Guardian Of Life
by LeftNotRight
Summary: "I want you to be my wives, Ancient Egypt's Wives." He claimed as embraced the two Westerners. "Ah, no. Firstly, you're roughly 3000 years Carol's senior, 3050 for me." Harker denied, face deadpanned. "And secondly, I ain't a wife, I'm a guy!" Or When a normal - if not a bit blood thirsty - guy gets thrown into a shojo manga he has no knowledge of!
1. Chapter 1: White Westerners

**WARNING: This is a SHOJO manga, so I will be using 'flowery' wording for some scenes that would have been dramatic, to the people in the manga, but not to Harker, who is just very done with the whole situation. Also, HIGH possibility that Harker will be a Gary-Sue. VERY HIGH!**

 _ **Disclaimer: This is an Ouke No Monshou (Crest Of The Royal Family/The Royal Hieroglyphic)**_ _ **fanfiction**_ _ **, Ouke No Monshou is the property and creation of Chieko Hosokawa.**_

 **Chapter 1: White Westerners In Enslaved Egypt**

"Hey Hark! See ya later, don't be a stranger! Come 'round any time you want!"

"Yeah mate, you too. Don't die or anything, kay?"

"Haha, you wish."

" _You have no idea."_

"What was that?!"

"Nothing~!"

Harker turned and booked it out of the gate, running past the many parked cars along the main road in front of the school. He waved to a bunch of people he knew by face, but not by name, as he rounded the corner and slowed to a jog.

' _Finally, freedom from the education!'_ He though as he slowed.

He adjusted the straps of his bag as he looked around, waiting for the next intersection to cross. He hummed as he walked after the car.

' _Have I got everything done?'_ He thought, his eyes being drawn to the cloud-dotted sky.

' _Let's see, no assignments, a bit- a little bit- of homework, ah- I have that Holiday reading.'_ He clicked his finger as he gave a firm nod to himself.

He ducked under a branch as he walked further away from the business of the main streets and further into the residential areas.

' _So, that's all I need to do?'_ Harker though as he began to doubt himself, a small frown tugging on his lips.

"Am I sure _\- are you sure Harker?"_

Harker bit the nail of his thumb as he thought, before nodding resolutely.

' _Yes, that's all. I have four and a half weeks, worse comes to worst I can finish it by then. For now though, I am sure. Good.'_

With a bit more peace of mind, he began trotting the rest of the way, nodding to the people he passed by. As the sounds of the cars faded, Harker turned up the music on his phone and placed his ear-phones in, sounds of the Mirrai Nikki opening flowed through his earphones casing his steps to match the beat. He hummed to the lyrics as he continued to walk, his body going into auto-pilot as his body dodged reversing cars, fellow students and tree branches – who were _definitely out to get him by the way._

Harker paused, something definitely was wrong. He looked left and right, biting the nail of his thumb as he thought.

' _I know somethings missing, not school, what am I missing.'_

Harker began patting his hip in agitation with his once-bitten hand as he frowned.

" _Come on, come on! I'm definitely missing-_ "

He paused, thought and movement stopping.

" _Oh God- Oh-fucking God! I…"_

He patted his hip harshly.

"I have work. I have _work, I was meant to catch the bus! Oh shit!_ "

Harker unplugged his ear-phones and tied them around his neck harshly, putting the rest in his shirt and zipping up his pocket. He bent his knees and took off running, sprinting up the hill, around the corner and up the next before leaping over the fence into Mrs. Samson's yard, tapping her dog on the nose.

"Hey Mrs. Samson!" He yelled as he jumped over the other side.

"One day you're going to impale yourself, boy!" She yelled back as he ran down the hill.

"I'll be careful!"

" _Maybe if I get there fast enough, Mum'll give me a lift! God I hope so!"_ He though as he dashed, using a 'stop' sign to help his swing around the corner sharply as he continued before running down the hill.

' _Oh c'mon! C'mon! C'mon!'_ He heard the familiar ' _vroom_ ' as his mother's car started. _'Just a little bit faster! Just a little bit faster!'_

 _ **BANG!**_

Harker crash against the side of the car, body spread out like a starfish before he slowly slid down to plop on the ground.

There click before the driver's side door swung opened. A tall, lithe woman stood and looked around the boot. Harker looked and saw the long, black hair of his mother, obscure her face as she shook her head and laughed.

"Honestly Hark, one day you're going to kill yourself like this."

"I-don't-fffffffffff…" he stumbled as he tried to get his balance, using the car as support.

"I'm sure I will, but not today! As today, I forgot. To. Catch. The. Bus. And I-I…" Harker slumped slightly.

"So I need you…I-I need you to… Could you drive me down to Mirool-Murr-marroo- FUCK!"

"Want me to drive you down to Maroubra?"

"Yes, if you'd be so kind, please."

"Get in!" she sighed, black eyes rolling to the sky. "Already going that way, might as well get in, c'mon!"

"Thank you! I swear I will clean my room, I'll clean you room, I'll empty the dishwasher, I will- Thank you!" Harker threw his bag into the back seat, already packed with his swimming gear.

"Okay, let's go!"

"I'll hold you to that. You have your board?"

"Okay, let's go after I have my board! Haha…" His laughter dying as he speed-walked down the driveway.

Running onto the back deck he pulled open what appeared to be a small cabinet before reaching in and pulling out a board, he continued to pull to reveal that the cabinet actually went into the wall. In his arms Harker now held a white board that held a single yellow sun design at the nose.

He tucked it under his arm as he jogged back to the car, pushing the empty set down and sliding the board in from the boot. Slamming the boot down, he threw himself into the opposite seat and closed his door.

"Okay, _now_ we can go!"

His mother laughed as she turned on the car and pulled out and the two drove off.

()()()

"Finally, thought you wouldn't make it!"

Harker turned to see Priti strolling up to him, decked out in her bathing suit and her board under her arm.

Priti and Harker had been friends since childhood, their mothers had been close and had come to Australia from Egypt together to study at the same University. This resulted in many play-dates and sleep overs spaning over the 18 years of the two's lives.

Priti looked a lot like her mother, black hair that fell around her shoulders, tanned skin from time in the sun, a tall, solid body with more than a few battle scars. Dark, brown eyes that shone lively within a frame of thick lashes, a snub ended nose and a nice smile. She was a strong girl, could easily lift Harker straight off the ground, and she knew it too. Loving the feeling of knocking down the new life guards down a peg, when they thought she was easy picking because she was a girl. At the moment, she was clad in the unisex lifeguard uniform, red shorts and a yellow shirt with the words lifeguard written on the back in red.

Now while Priti was indeed a pretty girl, Harker himself was nothing to sneeze at. With a height of 190cms and having enough muscle to pick up 68kg – AKA Priti- with one arm, his body was in good shape, along with his flat stomach and strong legs. His skin was relatively pale, considering his time at the beach, his hair was a fare shade of gold and his eyes were a sharp, clear blue.

Harker smiled and opened his arms to hug his shorted friend, giving her a solid pat on the back he withdrew and raised an eyebrow.

"Oh you know me, fashionably late and all."

Priti smirked and helped him take his board out of the car.

"Later Sahra, I'll keep him out of trouble for you." She waved Harker's mother goodbye as she drove around the corner, leaving the two at the beach.

"Really though, you forgot you had work today, right?"

Harker sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, I was thinking of other things and I only realised half-way."

Priti gave him a frown before walking to the changing rooms, Harker following her across the sand. Dropping his stuff, Harker unbuttoned his shirt and moved to pull it off, completely fine with Priti dropping her bag next to him as well.

"How much time do I have?" He asked as he dropped his pants quickly.

Priti checked her watch before muttering a curse and grabbing her goggles.

"Fifteen seconds."

"FUCK A DUCK!"

"I'd rather you didn't Hark."

Harker and Priti ran out of the change rooms and up to the office, quickly signing in. Grabbing a water bottle from the fridge, they left the building and ran across the beach, uniform board tucked under arm. Skidding to a halt, the two dropped their possessions and waved at the man looking at them through a pair of binoculars.

"G'day Chris, ready for your break?" Harker asked as he took the equipment out of Chris' hands.

Chris laughed and gave Harker a solid thump on the back, before jogging back to the watch tower.

"Later mate!"

Harker nodded to his retreating form before looking through the eye-holes and watched the swimmers, making sure they were all in the safe area. Priti sat on a plastic chair next to him, watching the swimmers in the closer shore. He stepped back as two boys tumbled past him and into the surf playfully, screaming as the cold water surrounded them.

He smiled down at them as one waved, before getting dunked by his friend. They playfully wrestled before getting knocked over by another wave.

"Careful you two, don't drown one another." He chuckled, letting the binoculars hang around his neck.

The children chorused an affirmative before running deeper into the water. Priti glanced at Harker's shoulder and smiled at the simple tattoo on his bicep, a simplistic black sun outline. They had gotten it on his 18th birthday, with his mother's permission, to celebrate 18 years under the sun. Priti had backed out of getting one herself, and instead had gotten her ears pierced, now constantly wearing the earrings her grandmother had given her from Egypt.

"You 'kay there, Priti?"

She looked up at Harker, quickly pulled from her day dream.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Harker shrugged before turning back to the shore, wincing as a surfer got dunked by a wave. He let out a sympathetic hiss as the surfer came back to the surface and clambered into his board, waving off his friends who had paddled towards him.

"Jee, that looked bad." Priti snorted before taking a swing of her bottle.

Harker hummed in agreement before sitting in the chair next to her, handing her the binoculars.

The two sat there, trading conversation as they watched the beach goers go about their business, more than happy that there were no problems. They watched people come and go, mothers kneeling in the shallows with their children and fathers being used as rafts by the older kids.

It was about 6pm when the next guards came to take over the beach, letting the two change and grab their personal boards for a swim and a lazy drift.

"Hey Hark, the good waves are over there, wanna go?" Priti asked as they paddled out, Harker slowing down and sitting up.

"Hm, nah. I don't feel like doing too much today, I think I'll just drift for a bit. You go ahead." He said, waving the girl off as he laid back on his board to soak up the sun.

Priti pouted, but turned her board and began paddling away towards the far shore. Harker sat up, looked to the shore, and waved to the life guard on duty to tell him that he was there. The life guard sent him a thumbs up, he had seen him.

Harker laid back down and sighed, letting his muscles relax in the sun and the calm ocean rock him gently. He folded his arms behind his head and gave a jaw cracking yawn, eyes making shapes out of the clouds in the sky.

" _Yal-di ha-tov veh ha-rach, al ti-ra veh al tif-chad_. My son, I have nothing I can give, but this chance that you may live. I pray we'll meet again…" Harker sang quietly, remembering the voice of the woman in the biblical movie, Prince of Egypt.

"I should watch that again, I should watch all those old movies again actually. I think I still have them on DVD somewhere. Maybe Mum'll know where that are." He muttered, thinking back to his limited supply of movies.

His thoughts were cut short when a shadow was cast over him, for only a split second. He leaned up slightly and squinted at the black silhouette in the sun, blinking when he realised what it was.

"A hawk? Damn, haven't seen one of those in a while."

Leaning back down, he groaned as the hawk once again cut through the rays of his sun. Harker frowned as the hawk periodically circled his relaxed form. He shifted slightly, drawing his knee up and laying one arm across his body in a lazy manner, before letting out a content sigh.

Suddenly, sharp pricks jabbed his skin, alerting him of the waking world and making him open his eyes again. Perched on his knee was the hawk from before, happily grooming its wing, not at all caring about the nap it had just disturbed.

"Hey, I ain't no tree, get." Harker half-heartily muttered, jolting his leg slightly.

The bird only paused for a moment before returning to its wing, tightening its talons slightly. Harker grunted in annoyance, but submitted to the bird's wishes and relaxed again.

The bird let out a loud squawk before hopping off his knee, and landing solidly on his chest instead. He gave a soft 'oomph', before looking down at the bird, coming nose to beak with the damn thing.

"Yes, something you want?"

The bird only tilted its head before dropping into a more comfortable position in the lines of his muscles. He sighed and let his head loll back, not bothering to fight the bird.

Then Harker did something _extremely stupid_.

He fell asleep at sea.

()()()

Harker groaned as he woke up, the bed he was on was solid and hard, not at all like his spring mattress back at home.

"Mum, look! The man is waking up!"

That wasn't English. Not by a long shot.

Harker recognised that dialect, it was the kind his mother had taught him when he was young. Arabic.

Harker opened his eyes warily and sat up slowly, letting out another groan as he did so. Looking around, he noticed that he was in a small shack looking house, made of stone and mud with a dirt floor.

"Luckily you two were found by us, otherwise you would've been killed by the soldiers!"

Harker looked at the source of the voice and saw a dark skinned boy, his eyes and hair were black, and his hair was pulled back by a wound up cloth. His clothing was dated and his feet were bare, he was well muscled, but not as much as Harker, this was probably due to how unnaturally thin the boy was.

"Where are you from? How'd you end up here?" He asked eagerly, standing from his wooden chair and walking towards him.

Harker turned and placed his feet on the ground before trying to stand, only to fall back down swiftly.

"You okay? You shouldn't move. Mum'll get mad if you do, 'plenty of rest' she says." The boy said quickly, placing his hands on Harker's shoulders.

"Um, thanks. My names Harker Skylark, I'm from Maroubra." He greeted uncertainly, sticking his hand out to shake.

The boy paused and stared at his hand, a baffled expression on his face. Harker stalled before slowly lowering his hand awkwardly.

"Maroubra? Where's that?" The boy asked, leaning forwards.

"Huh? It's-"

A sudden movement startled the two boys as a person behind Harker sat up sharply and gave out a loud gasp.

"Oh hey, the other one's awake too! What's your name?"

Harker watched the girl behind him freeze up at the boy's voice. The girl was entirely different to the boy, and seemed very out of place in the surrounding environment. With blond hair, wide blue eyes and even paler skin than Harker, along with her Western, floral clothes, she looked more like someone he'd find at home compared to the boy in front of him.

She stared at the un-named boy in shock, before vaulting over Harker and grabbing him by his cloth shirt.

"This place? Where is this place?!" She asked, voice edging on hysterical as she let out a stream of American accented Arabic.

' _Yes, where is this place?'_ Harker thought as he looked around again.

"This is the Nile village of Gosen, near the city of Tebe."

Harker froze.

" _What?"_ He asked in English, standing sharply to tower over the two.

The two jumped and turned to him sharply, both wide eyed as they looked up at his imposing form.

"The v-village of Gosen is a slave village!" The boy hastily explained, but before he could say more, Harker was knocked over by the girl as she leapt at him, catching him in the gut.

" _You! You speak English! Do you know why we're here?! Why we're in ancient Egypt!_ " The girl asked in English, gripping his bare shoulders as she all but sat in his lap.

" _Ancient Egypt!? Why the fuck would either of us be here?! I was in Australia a second ago! That's impossible!"_

" _I don't know either! I'm a person from the 21_ _st_ _century! I can't be here!"_ The girl suddenly jumped up and attempted to run out the door, screaming for her brothers.

The boy and his mother bother quickly blocked the doorway quickly.

"Quiet! You can't go outside!" The woman hissed urgently, pushing her from the door as she cast it a fearful look.

"You are a foreigner girl! If they see you, you'll be killed! So will we, and the other foreigner!" The boy urged as he blocked the door further.

The blond girl gasped and covered her mouth as blood drained from her face in fear. Harker sat back down and bit his thumb, not at all happy with the situation.

Suddenly a loud banging rung through the air, making the people in the room jump.

"All slaves responsible for the building of the God's Throne gather in the plaza square! Men go to the construction site, and women go fetch water and add to the oil carts!"

"They're ordering slaves to gather!" Gasped the girl as she peaked through the bars of the window.

The boy grabbed the blond, panicking girl and smiled reassuringly at her.

"My names Sechi," he turned to Harker. "You two must be in trouble let me help you!"

"Sechi! Please help me! I have been taken to this world by an unbelievable power! I'm an American! Carol Rido, I'm not from this time! I'm someone from the 21st century!" The girl – Carol – was crying at this point and grasping Sechi's shirt in desperation.

"American? 21st century?" Harker turned to the poor woman watching this interaction and sighed.

"Sechi! How can I go back to the present?! Tell me!?"

Sechi, shocked and perhaps a little bit scared, looked down at the hysterical girl.

"I don't quite understand what you've said…"

 **BANG! BANG! BANG!**

The occupants of the room jumped and turned to the door.

"Slaves! Time for work! Gather up!"

"I'll be right there, sir!" Sechi called back, before handing Carol off to his mother.

"I'll be careful." He told his mother as he walked out.

"We should cover up your golden hair and white skin." The mother said quickly to the two Westerners. "All the slaves are going out to do labour now."

She quickly dragged the two down onto the floor and began tossing cloth at them.

"Here are some of my husband's old clothes, I think they may fit you." She said to Harker before turning back to Carol.

"I'm Sechi's mother, Sephora. Quickly!"

Carol pulled a piece of cloth over her hair and, behind a sheet held up by Sephora, stripped herself of her Western clothes.

Harker nodded to Sephora and pulled the flimsy piece of cloth on, Harker paused before kneeling on the ground. Grabbing a handful of dirt from the floor and smothering his hair in it, tuning it a musty brown as well as he could.

"Good idea boy, quickly Carol! Dirty your hands, feet and face!"

"Eh?! Dirty my hands and face?!"

Harker rubbed dirt all over his body quickly, having no qualms with a little mud. Jumping up he turned to the two women and nodded quickly.

"Miss, should I follow Sechi since the men and women are separated?" He asked as he tucked his hair under a beige cloth.

Sephora nodded, mildly stunned at the 'miss', and quickly shooed him out of the house.

"Uh! Before you go! What's your name?" Carol asked, holding her hand out to pause him.

Harker turned and held his hand out to shake, noticing Sechi look in the door and recognise the action.

"I'm Harker Skylark, just call me Harker." He introduces as he grasped Carol's hand and gave her a firm shake.

Carol nodded and gave him a shaky smile.

"Nice to meet you Harker."

He nodded and smiled back, releasing her hand.

"You too Carol, though maybe it would have been nicer with less…chaotic circumstances."

Carol let out a small laugh as he jogged towards Sechi, who looked a little sheepish.

"Ah, that's what you were doing before. Sorry about that, I didn't know that." He apologised, rubbing the back of his neck.

Harker shrugged and smiled.

"Nah, it's fine. It's a European custom."

Sechi smiled and led him away from the house and towards a towering wall of decorated stone. Men were swarming around the many stone monuments, some pulling, and some pushing, others climbing, some…yelling and whipping those on the ground.

"So, I though you two were together before. I didn't know you were strangers." He commented as he gave Harker a kind of leather canteen before grabbing one for himself.

"Yeah, we come from two different countries - continents actually. We just happen to speak a common language. It's dumb luck that we ended up in the same place. " _And time_ , he tacked on mentally.

Sechi grinned at him and grabbed a rope before hauling himself up onto one of the monuments.

Harker paused and looked around at all the stone monuments, observing the paintings and designs. He turned and gapped, a sphynx was being dragged across the sand by a small legion of men.

' _Amazing. Priti would love this, little history-nut.'_

A crack and a shape pain along his back, yanked Harker out of his thoughts. He cringed and turned to his attacker, a glare on his face.

"Get back to work, slave!"

Harker growled quietly, but moved to follow Sechi's example and began to scale the wall after him.

"So, we found this strange boat with you. You were sleeping on it when we found you in the reeds, near Carol." Sechi said after taking a swing of water from his canteen.

Harker took a sip himself, before Sechi's face brightened up and he waved to someone in the crowd of slaves.

"Hey! We need water too!"

Harker followed his line of sight, and saw a dirtied Carol holding a jug of water in her hands. She looked confused and jumpy, nerves frayed from the demands of water coming left and right.

She relaxed once she recognised them and ran to meet them halfway, ready to fill their canteens.

"Nice disguise, but you need to be careful." Whispered Sechi as she filled his canteen.

"Just now, I almost rubbed the dirt off my face." She replied quietly as she moved to Harker.

She paused and her eyes widened, one hand coming up to cover her mouth.

"Harker, your back!"

Harker shook his head and gently patted her head.

"It's fine, I've dealt with worse. So have you, I bet." He said, gesturing to the bite marks he recognised on her ankle.

She quietened and nodded, lowering her head. She turned to Sechi suddenly, weary desperation on her face.

"Sechi, how do I get to the shrine where Ashisu lives?"

He reared back, confused fear clear on his face.

"Idiot! There are lots of officers and soldiers there! Any slaves who enter will be killed!"

Harker took a sip from his canteen as he watched the interaction, wondering Carol's reason for seeing out someone in a place they knew no-one from. Someone of high social standing at that, since they live in a shrine.

"Hey! Sechi, what are you doing?"

Sechi turned and replied to the call, leaving Carol and Harker alone for a moment.

"Carol, why are you trying to find this Ashisu? I thought you didn't know anyone here?"

"Ashisu is the woman who kidnapped me and took me to this time! If I find her, maybe I can go back home! She's the older sister of Menfusiu, the current Pharaoh!"

Harker frowned and crossed his arms, maybe this Ashisu could get him home too? He nodded and smiled at Carol, resting his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll help you where I can, maybe she can get me home too?"

Carol smiled widely and nodded, grasping the jug tighter.

"We just have to wait for Menfusiu to descend the throne! She's follow soon after, I'm sure!"

Harker nodded and withdrew from the girl.

"Harker! C'mon!" Sechi called from up on the wall.

"Commin'!" Harker called back. "Later Carol, don't do anything too crazy."

Running up to the wall, he quickly began to scale it again.

The work was intense and Harker knew that he was going to hurt like _all hell_ in the morning, but he kept it up, knowing he had more strength and energy than Sechi did and thus took most of the weight when hauling up the stones. After setting another stone down, he took a moment to catch his breath as he waited for the next stone brick to be loaded.

"Don't stop! You're working too slowly! It doesn't matter if a female slave dies! Keep pulling, quickly!"

Harker looked up and gasped when he saw Sephora caught under the wheel of the sphinx, almost being crushed.

"Sechi, your mum!" He called to his friend, seeing Sechi's face fall into terror at the sight.

They watched in fear as Carol tried to stop the construction, only to get thrown to the ground. Sechi's attention was taken from the scene to look as Harker's body tensed suddenly when he saw the man unsheathed a knife, and was all but ready to jump off the wall then and there.

A growl rumbled from deep within his chest as he bared his teeth, and Sechi could have very well said, that he looked more like an animal than he did human.

"General Minue!"

Harker's eyes were ripped from the knife and locked instead on the incoming figure, a man donning fine Egyptian clothes and a cape along with a golden brace.

From their distance, the two couldn't hear what was being said but they both relaxed when the man with the knife bowed and both Carol and Sephora moved away from the sphinx.

"Sechi! Go to your mother! You'll get today to tend to her!" The soldier instructing them yelled from his post.

Sechi turned to Harker uncertainly, but was received with a smile and a nod.

"Go ahead, I remember the way back to your home. I'll be fine." Harker said before calling if the next stone was ready.

Sechi thanked him before propelling down the wall and running after the two retreating women, glancing at the smirking general over his shoulder.

Carol paused when she noticed the lack of Harker and looked to the wall, frowning when she saw him raise the stones with the other slaves. She gasped quietly when she saw General Minue watching her and ran to catch up with Sephora and Sechi.

General Minue smiled as he stored the name 'Carol' in his mind, deciding to keep that strange moment of golden hair to himself. He followed the golden girl's line of sight and stalled, mind going quiet under the intense stare of piercing blue eyes of the man standing upon the Pharaoh's monument, the sun beating down on his back.

()()()

"Mrs Sephora, how are you feeling?" Harker asked as he closed the door behind him, pulling off the cloth that covered his head, the dirt long gone from the sweat that gathered.

Sephora smiled at him and gestured to her leg, which was bandaged and splinted. Carol's handy work from the looks of it.

"Thank you for saving her Carol." Sechi thanked, a grin on his face, wide as ever.

Harker sat down by a small basin of water, accepting a wash cloth from Sechi. He sighed as the cool water touched his skin and the grime and sweat of the day's work came off in rivets of water.

Feeling eyes on him, he turned and saw Sechi watching his back with a strange attention. He raised an eyebrow in question, and smirked when Sechi jumped to attention.

"It's just really surprising how pale you both are, you contrast against the dirt really well!" he laughed awkwardly before looking down and talking again.

"And um… that marking on your bicep. It looks a lot like Ra."

Harker blinked before connecting the dots and washing the dirt off the tattoo, revealing the simple sun design.

" _Wow, you have a tattoo?_ " Carol asked, slipping into English as she poked the muscled flesh.

"Yeah, I got it on my 18th birthday." Harker replied to both Carol and Sechi's statements.

"Ah, Sechi! You said you found a strange boat with me, was it white and flat?" He asked, wiping down his legs and front quickly before dumping the rest on his head, a few drops catching Carol who was staring at the pink line going across his back from the whip.

"Yeah, it's under the bed!" Sechi kneeled and dragged Harker's board out from under the wooden frame.

Harker jumped up and took the board off him, twirling it this way and that, looking for any damage. Finding none, he relaxed and thanked Sechi for keeping it.

"No problem, it looked important."

Carol turned back to Sephora who was watching the exchange quietly, before asking a question that had been on her mind for a while.

"What kind of person is General Minue?"

Sephora smiled and looked at her wistfully.

"He is like a shadow…protecting King Menfusiu, he is quite a popular general."

Carol smiled and sat on her knees happily, her shoulders relaxing as her hand came up to play with a piece of her short, blond hair.

"Hm…I never thought there would be a kind hearted general in Ancient Egypt where they took pride in killing people."

' _General Minue…he freely let me go despite seeing my hair. Ah, Harker needs to know!_ '

She turned and quickly shuffled over to him, leaning close as to not be over heard too much.

" _Harker, General Minue, the one who let us leave, he knows I have blond hair. He saw it when he saved us."_ She whispered, switching to English for cautions sake.

Harker stiffened and his grip on his board tightened causing a faint squeak to sound. Carol fidgeted nervously, if she was caught, Harker would be too. He eventually loosened, before tuning to her, his face relaxed and understanding.

" _Did he bring it up_?" He asked, placing the board down to face her properly.

Carol shook her head and he sagged further, a small smile touching his lips.

" _I'll let you off this time, shiela, but do it again and I swear I will blow a blood vessel."_ He warned, throwing in Australian slang for the hell of it.

Carol tilted her head in confusion, shiela? What?

Harker merely smiled and turned to Sechi, he had been collecting the cloth the two would be wearing to the upcoming celebration.

"Quickly get ready you two, we need to get the parade for the Pharaoh."

Carol pouted and gave an annoyed cry.

"But I just got clean! I have to rub dirt all over myself again?"

Harker shrugged and grabbed another handful of dirt and smothered his face in it. A grin burst forth at the disgusted expression on Carol's face. She rolled her eyes and daintily gathered some dust.

"Boys." She muttered.

"Girls." Harker teased.

()()()

Harker stood next to Carol in the crowd of screaming and celebrating slaves, unsure if they were _actually_ happy about getting a new tyrant or were just playing the part. He watched the scanty clad performers with half-hearted interest, keeping one eye on the restless Carol whose heart was still set on meeting the priestess.

"I, Menfuisu here will swear! By wearing the Upper Egypt's White Crown and the Lower Egypt's Red Crown, I will unite the Upper and Lower Egypt! As wished by Ra, I shall rule over all of Egypt!"

Harker looked to the source of the booming voice and raised an eyebrow appreciatively, now while Harker was happy with women, he had no qualms with appreciating a man he felt deserved it. Menfuisu was a young man, in his late teens from the looks of it, with a handsome face and lithe body. His hair was pitch black, and his skin was tanned healthily.

"Long live the Pharaoh!" He joined in quickly when he noticed the looks he was getting from the people around him.

He watched as Menfuisu talked to the woman at his side, to whom he showed a physical likeness, before they both turned and began retreating back into the palace.

"Ah, Ashisu don't leave! Ashisu wait!" Carol surged forward, knocking off her head-dress in her attempts to reach the woman next to the king.

Harker reached out and dragged her back to him, slamming the cloth over her head with a little too much ferocity.

"Don't be an idiot, Carol. Even if you tried, you couldn't each her from here." He hissed into her ear as his arms created a cage around her.

Harker looked up at the castle, eyes scanning the crowd for anyone who could have seen before focussing in on a bald man with a staff. We was beckoning a servant forward and looking towards the girl in Harker's arms with an expression he _did_ _not_ _like_.

He drilled a hole into the man's head with his eyes, attempting to send his intent at him with his gaze. The man paused talking to the servant and turned slowly, before making eye contact with him. The man froze and took a step back, the grip on his staff wavering under the assault of ice blue eyes, as if a hawk had found its prey.

Carol shifted in his arms, making him look away from the man. He looked down at her as she grasped his shirt, a pleading expression on her face.

"Please, we need to get closer. I need to talk to Ashisu!"

Sechi leaned forward and shook his head.

"This is as far as we can go. This place is surrounded by soldiers, there's no chance to get into the palace." Carol sagged slightly, before perking up, causing Harker to sigh.

"Okay Carol, what's your plan?" He asked, defeated.

()()()

" _This is a stupid plan."_ Harker hissed, falling into English now that their Egyptian friend was no longer with them.

" _This place is full of soldiers too, let's go check the middle courtyard."_ Carol said, ignoring Harker's complaint.

Harker rolled his eyes, but crouched and followed the smaller girl along through the plants. He snapped his head to the side and yanked her back into him, when he heard the yell of the nearby guard.

"Was I seeing things?" The guard muttered, rubbing his head before turning back around.

Only then did Harker release his death-grip on the girl, rubbing her back slightly to get her to relax. He sighed, relaxing himself before stepping away from her. Giving her a nod, he let her continue forwards.

Carol flinched as another voice was raised, calling for the attention of the party. She gave a desperate sound as she saw the party of royals begin to go deeper into the walls, and sighed. Turning back to her friend, she shook her head, telling him they couldn't do it.

" _Maybe next time, Carol._ " He whispered, giving her a reassuring smile before taking her hand and leading them back to the home of their benefactors.

()()()

"I'm sorry, but could you two share a bed? We don't have enough for the both of you."

Carol peaked out from the head-hole her dress as Harker helped tug it on, her arm half stuck out. She pulled the collar down further to look at Harker, who had an 'I don't really care' expression on.

"Ah…I don't mind but…" She trailed off, thinking about her fiancé, Jimmy.

Harker gave a final tug, getting the nightgown over her head and her arms through. He stood and grabbed his board, laying it on the ground before flopping on it, arms behind his head.

"Nah, you can take the bed Carol, I'll be fine here. Priti would whoop me if she knew I shared a bed with a girl I had only met today." He said, taking an offered pillow from Sephora.

Carol smiled at him, relaxing slightly before sitting on the hard bed. Pulling up the sheets before settling, along with the others.

Harker yawned as he looked at the darkening roof, listening to the sounds of night time Egypt. He wondered if this was the same kind of sounds his mother and Aunty Neith had heard when they were children in Egypt.

' _I wonder if Mum and the others are okay._ ' He sighed before rolling over glaring at the far wall.

' _Maybe time over there has frozen? Maybe the present doesn't exist anymore? Is it even the present? I'm pretty sure now is the present for Sechi and Sephora, it's also kind of the present for me and Carol, we're just aware of the future… Ah fuck it! Let's not go there, mate.'_

He grunted, slumping slightly before closing his eyes. He took a deep breath, before stalling sharply when Carol sat up suddenly.

He listened quietly as she breathed quickly and let out a small sob, she jumped out of the bed, running to the door. Opening it sharply, she took off into the night.

Harker cursed before jumping up himself and following her out, noticing their fair hair and skin weren't covered by dirt.

" _Carol, get back here._ " He hissed quickly, not risking yelling in the quiet streets.

She didn't seem to hear him and continued to run, making him follow her out of the town and into the sands near the sphinx.

" _No! I don't want to be forgotten!_ " Carol screamed as she rubbed her tears.

"Carol! _God damn it!_ " He yelled, running up behind her and grabbing her wrist. Their skins only slightly contrasting, and her hair fluttering up and blending with his, blue meeting blue. The familiar colouring seemed to calm Carol, as she slumped into him and wrapped her arms around his solid frame.

" _Harker, I want to go home! I want to go back to brother and Jimmy!"_

Harker's glare softened, he raised his arms and wrapped his arms around her small frame. She was just as scared as him, reaching her braking point.

He opened his mouth to speak, but a loud gasp rung through the air and cut him off. The two pale skinned teens turned sharply, coming face to face with a familiar man standing downwind from them.

Menfuisu had escaped from the castle with his close friend, General Minue, to go see the new monuments without the crowding of the slaves. He was pleased by the work of the slaves, but not thankful. That's what they're for, was what he thought to himself.

"Pharaoh Menfuisu, come! You must see the great God's Throne!" Minue called from a lower dune of sand, causing Menfuisu to follow after him.

Suddenly, a flash of white caught his eye. He turned just as a rough voice called over the sand, and he saw them.

Two white skinned figures embracing on a high sand dune, golden hair catching the wind and reflecting the moonlight.

Harker turned back to Carol quickly, using his hand on her back to push her in the direction of the village. Once he and Carol was a safe enough distance, looked over his shoulder to glare at the men coming close.

"Ah! Wait up!" The Pharaoh yelled, chasing after them.

" _Like hell we are!_ " Harker hissed, continuing to guide Carol with his hand.

They burst back into the shack belonging to the family of two, to see both occupants awake and alert. Sechi lurched forward and threw questions at them with wide eyes.

"Harker, Carol! Where did you two go?"

Harker pushed Carol the rest of the way in and closed the wooden door behind them, making sure no one had seen them enter the house. He turned to the two to hear Carol explain to Sechi that they had been spotted, Sechi's face paling at the news.

"Carol, Sechi, they don't know we're here. For now, at least, we are safe." Harker reasoned, attempting to calm the shaking teens.

Sechi nodded slowly before stepping away from Carol and tending to his mother, Carol walking shakily over to Harker. He let out a gruff 'oomph' as she slumped against him, her body strung high with tension.

He rubbed her arms rhythmically, sending Sephora a look in exchange for her quiet laugh. He looked down at the shorter girl and gave her a soft smile, giving her arms a quick squeeze before letting go and stepping back.

"C'mon Carol, let's clean-up for Sephora." He urged, turning her gently before stepping past her and picking up a sheet to start folding.

Folding the sheet into a shaky square before handing it off to Carol, Harker systematically worked through the sheets. Tossing a pillow to Sechi to place with the rest, he smiled as Sephora took as sip of water, prodding her leg with her free hand.

Harker frowned as the noise outside suddenly began to rise, quiet humming turning to the horse yells of men. He stood straighter as the yelling came closer, tensing as Sechi stuck his head outside before reeling back in and slamming the door.

"Oh no! The soldiers are looking for you! Quickly, hide somewhere!" He whispered harshly, hastily walking up to them.

Carol turned to Harker, and they knew they had shared the same thought. They had to get out of there.

" _We can sail over the Nile River and find safety there."_ Carol said.

Carol threw herself at Sephora and kissed her on the cheek, thanking her and Sechi for caring for them. Harker grabbed Carol's disguise and threw them at her before changing himself and rubbing dirt all over his skin, thanking Sechi as he did.

As Carol changed, Harker paused and turned to look at his board, he couldn't take it. It was too big and as foreign as they were, it would draw too much attention. He turned to Sephora, a pleading expression on his face.

"Mrs Sephora, could you keep and hide my board? I can't take it with me right not but maybe, one day, I can come back for it." He asked, grasping her hands.

She paused before giving him a sad smile, gripping his hands back. She gave a nod and instructed Sechi to hide it back under the bed.

"I want to go too! Harker, Carol!" Sechi stated, standing.

Carol spun around and held her hand out.

"No Sechi! You can't!" She exclaimed, fear on her face.

Harker stood next to her, gabbing her face and rubbing dirt into her skin as she spoke. Deciding to let her do the talking as he set up for their departure.

"Carol, you two don't know your way around here, can you two get out of here safely? You saved my mother's life, Carol, I should protect you in return!" He claimed, turning to his mother.

"Mum! Can I go with them?" He asked.

"Yes Sechi, go with them!" She agreed, sitting up.

This made Harker turn and look at her, shouldn't her son be her first priority? Not some strange people who could get them killed?

He grunted as Carol dragged him into a hug, sighing before wrapping and arm around the thin women.

"Thank you Sephora, Sechi, for looking after us." He mumbled, retracting from the hug.

Sephora smiled up at him, before laying back and watching her son and the two dirt-covered, pale people run out the door. Feeling a strange lightness as the golden haired man's white boat sat under her bed, a secret only the four of them knew of.

()()()

"Let's go! While the soldiers aren't here!" Sechi urged, glancing over his shoulder.

Harker gave a grunt in reply as he pushed the reeds out of the way for the three of them, Carol's hand full of a bundle containing their modern clothing. Carol kept her head down, making sure not to let her hair be seen again.

"Sechi, the Nile's nearby right? I can smell the water." Harker commented, noticing the land under his feet gain a moist feel.

"Yeah, just up ahead." Was his reply, Carol giving a relieved sigh.

"Hold it!"

The trio turned sharply to see a man walk out of the reeds, Harker's eyes narrowing at the knife he held in his hands. Harker moved to tower over the man, his body obscuring the man's sight of the two younger teens.

The man glared at him, grip tightening on the hilt of his blade.

"Are you three fleeing from Gosen village?"

Carol reeled back and covered her mouth as she gasped, the man unsheathed his blade and Harker tensed up.

"You must be the Golden Haired girl! Take your cloth off now!" The man surged forward, trying to get around Harker.

"Carol, run!" Sechi yelled.

Harker grabbed the man by his collar and tugged him back, hand clamping down in the wrist holding the knife. The man kicked and writhed in his grasp, making Harker slowly add strength to his grip and drive his thumb into the man's wrist. The man eventually gave and dropped his knife, making Sechi pick it up and store it in his belt.

"Hey Sechi, ever knocked someone out before?" Harker asked, tightening his hold on the man.

"No…?"

Harker smiled and spun the man in his grip around sharply, before rearing back and giving a _strong_ punch to the man's jaw.

The man's eyes rolled up into his skull, before he sagged and Harker dropped his body to the sandy ground.

He looked up to meet Sechi's stunned expression and shrugged, stepping over the man's body.

"I took self-defence in year 10." He explained, only further confusing the poor slave boy.

A scream rung through the air, making the two boys jump to attention. They traded a look, both recognising the voice, Carol's.

"Quickly!" Harker yelled as they took off towards the Nile.

"Help me, Harker! Sechi!" They heard through the reeds as they ran, the sounds of soldiers and horses making themselves known.

They burst through the reeds to see the Pharaoh Menfuisu carrying off a clean Carol, flanked by two horsemen.

" _FUCK!"_ Yelled Harker, making Sechi jump.

"Sechi, do you know a way into that god-damned palace?" He asked, whipping around to face the smaller boy.

Sechi gave a nod, determination clear in his expression.

"Yes, I know a way. Come quickly!"

()()()


	2. Chapter 2: Pharaoh's Pale Pair

**Chapter 2: Pharaoh's Pale Pair**

Harker crouched amongst the greenery of the palace courtyard, Sechi panting beside him. He glared at the soldiers lining the stairs they would need to climb to get into the building.

"Sechi, do you know if there's a servant's entrance door? Or something similar?" He asked, turning to his companion.

"Not as far as I'm aware." Sechi responded, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, we'll take you in the front."

The two boys jumped at the voice, and yelped as they were grabbed from behind, strong beefy hands locking around their biceps and dragging them to their feet.

Sechi yelped as they were forced up the stairs, servants and guards turning to look at the two captured teens. Harker growled at a guard whose hands moved too low, snapping his teeth at the hand when his arms couldn't move enough.

"No! Let me go, I'm not a slave!"

Harker and Sechi looked up and saw Carol being manhandled by the Pharaoh, making Harker growl louder and Sechi gasp.

"Your Majesty! We've captured these slaves who were trying to sneak into the palace!"

"Sechi! Harker!" Carol cried, relief mixing with fear.

"Carol!" Sechi called back.

"Oh, so your name's Carol, huh?" Menfuisu asked, looking down at the girl in his grip.

Menfuisu had yet to find the male of the 'Golden Set', but he had to first secure the girl.

"Carol, if you're not obedient, then those youths will be punished." He said silkily, a smirk on his face which only grew when he felt the girl in his grasp tense.

"Take those slaves and whip them!" He ordered, pointing to the kneeling pair.

' _At least, I could maybe help one-!'_ Carol though, panic clouding her mind.

"Wait!" She yelled, making the Pharaoh stop the guards for a moment to hear her plea.

" _Harker! If I tell them that you're like me, you won't get hurt! At least I can help you!"_ She yelped in English, getting Harker's attention.

He roughly shook his head, his face contorting into a glare.

" _Don't do that Carol! If I'm with Sechi, I can help him!"_ He tried to reason, ignoring the looks they were getting from around the room.

" _How can you help him? He'll still receive the same amount of blows!"_ She asked, moving forwards slightly only to rebound against the Pharaoh's hold.

" _I'm going to tell them, you'll be safe at least!"_

" _Carol, don't!"_

Carol turned to Menfuisu and looked up at him, grasping the arm that held her and drew his attention, ignoring Harker's English yells.

"Pour water over Harker, the tallest one!" She exclaimed, looking pleadingly up at the tyrant.

Menfuisu blinked before turning to look at the growling man, his own eyes widening when he saw the man's. Blue.

"You! Get a bucket of water and pour it over the largest man!" He demanded, pointing to a servant who was watching.

She bowed and scampered off, leaving the room in tense silence.

Carol looked everywhere but Harker, knowing full well that he was burning holes in her face with his eyes.

" _Carol, I swear to God, when I get out of this you are in_ _big_ _trouble. Do you hear me?"_ He hissed from across the room, making her flinch and even think about hiding behind the man holding her.

Menfuisu looked at him and leant forwards slightly, an eager grin on his face, despite the obvious anger of the other.

"What's that language you're speaking? I've never heard it before! What are you saying?" He asked, his grip tightening in his excitement.

Both Carol and Harker looked away, not willing to talk to the man who was so dead set on getting a hold of them.

Menfuisu sneered and walked forwards, dragging Carol along with him. Grabbing Harker's face, he forced him to look up at him, black clashing with blue. Anger clashing with annoyance.

"What do you want, Pharaoh?" Harker hissed, straining against the arms restricting him.

The teenaged king frowned down at him before pausing and began rubbing Harker's face with his thumb. The dirt was coming off.

"Water! Now!" He yelled, making the servant girl come running around the corner.

He stood back as she upturned the large bowel, dumping the contents over Harker's head. Black dirt peeled off and revealed white skin and golden hair, and an even angrier man underneath. Harker shook his hair like a dog and snarled up at the Pharaoh and golden girl through his dripping fringe.

"I've found them, sister! I've found the Golden Set!" Menfuisu called over his shoulder, drawing Harker's attention to a woman who standing in shock. Ashisu, was what Carol called her.

"Ah-I see, Menfuisu…Congratulations." She said, a half-hearted smile on her lips.

"You don't seem all that happy about this, Ashisu." Harker called, a raised eyebrow following his comment.

She whipped around and pinned him with a look of outrage, fists clenched and her shoulders thrown back.

"How dare a lowly dog like you call me by my name?!" She hissed, stalking over and raising her hand to hit him.

Harker stuck her with a glare and snapped his teeth warningly.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, princess. Even a dog can bite." He growled, flashing her his teeth.

Menfuisu laughed suddenly, drawing Carol closer to him in a sort of twisted hug. He waved his sister off and ordered for Harker to be allowed to stand.

Harker grunted and he was suddenly yanked onto his feet, feeling a little bit of pride when he noticed that he was an inch taller than Menfuisu, at least.

"Take the other to the prison, do as I instructed!" He ordered, not taking his eyes off Harker as he squeezed Carol.

"Oi! Let 'im go!" Harker snapped, struggling as another man came to help the two soldiers holding him.

"Stop! Stop! Sechi snuck in because of me! Stop!" Carol cried as Sechi was dragged off.

"I'll be fine, you two! I'll find a way out of here!" He reassured them, his own voice shaking.

Both of the Westerners recoiled when they heard the crack of a whip and Sechi's scream ring out. Harker snarled and struggled against his captors as Carol pleaded with the King. He looked back and hissed when he saw Carol getting on her knees, growling when he caught up on what was happening.

Menfuisu smirked up at him when they made eye contact, knowing full well how mad he was making the other male. Harker narrowed his eyes at him when the Pharaoh gestured to his other foot with a graceful hand movement.

"If you don't want your friend to be whipped to death, kiss my feet. Now, dog."

Harker let another growl rumble in his chest, clenching his fists.

"Harker, please! I don't want Sechi to get hurt!" Carol pleaded from the floor, looking up at him desperately.

Harker glared at Menfuisu for a moment longer, before the Pharaoh perked up, a sly grin sliding over his face.

"No, dogs don't kiss feet, do they? They bark. Go on, Harker, bark for your master."

Both Carol and Harker froze at the comment, Harker shaking as he snarled at him.

"Go on! Bark!" Menfuisu commanded, his demand punctuated by the crack of another whip.

Harker flinched when he heard his friend scream again, a sob following after. He let out another growl before, slowly opening his mouth.

"Woof…" He muttered, still glaring at the hateful man in front of him.

"I'm sorry, are you a pup or a dog? Louder!" Menfuisu demanded, a giddy tone to his voice.

Harker sighed before a grimace flicked onto his face, he glanced at Carol before opening his mouth again.

"Woof, _fucking_ Woof!"

Menfuisu looked stunned for a moment, before laughing and reaching out to pat his head in a demeaning manner.

"Good boy!" He praised.

Ashisu walked forward, holding a hand to her chest as she addressed her brother.

"Menfuisu, you have Harker, give Carol to me."

He only smiled and shook his head, drawing the pale girl closer.

"No sister! These kinds of things must come in a set!"

He then turned to the head maid and ordered her to bathe both of the pale teens, the maid sent to girls to grab Harker only to have him snap at them. He growled but followed after Carol, shrugging off his holders.

"I know how to take a bath!" He snapped as a woman walked over to him with a cloth in hand, Carol saying something similar as she was forcefully stripped by less skittish maids.

"You'll bathe in the same bath, it'll be easier that way." The head maid said as she forced Carol into the steaming water.

Harker reeled back and snapped his eyes to the stone ceiling, avoiding looking at Carol.

"Um, you sure about this miss?" He asked, ignoring the younger maids' giggles.

"Yes, now get in there!"

He yelped as he felt himself get pushed, his loin-cloth getting pulled off as he fell. Gasping as he came to the surface, he glared at the old woman.

"The water's too shallow for a stunt like that, you old coot!" He yelled, moving away from the very naked Carol beside him.

"My so pretty… You have such delicate white skin that non-Egyptians have." She commented, making Harker raise an eyebrow.

" _That's oddly specific, don't you think? Non-Egyptian? I can think of many races who aren't tic-tacs either._ "

" _We need to escape! We need to get back to the future!"_ Carol cried, grabbing his arm to get his attention, her other arm still covering her breasts.

Harker turned to her, anger resurrected at her tug. He glared down at her, no longer worried about their unclothed bodies.

" _Perhaps if you had let me stay with Sechi, we could have done something about that! But no, you had to get the idea that calling me out would help! What did it do, other than humiliate both of us and get us separated?"_ He hissed, looming over her.

She whimpered and looked down into the water, the servants had become quiet and were distancing themselves from the pair in the water.

" _I'm sorry, I was scared and… I got selfish! I didn't want to be alone with Menfuisu! He wouldn't stop touching me and- I'm sorry!"_

Harker raised his hand making her flinch and the others in the room tense up, only for Harker to bring his arm down in the water, making a loud splash. Carol looked up slowly, unsure of what to do.

" _Leave me alone for a little while, let me cool down._ " He muttered before turning and wading through the water to the far edge and taking a washcloth from a servant girl.

" _I'm sorry, Harker, Sechi._ " She whispered before turning back to the head maid, who was sending her worried glances.

"What was that about?" She asked as she scrubbed her hair, getting the sand and dirt out.

"We were having a… disagreement." She answered.

"That's one hell of a disagreement. But he has restraint, most men would have just struck you." She commented as she dropped a bucket's worth of water on Carol's head.

"Yes, Harker's nice." She sighed.

()()()

"Quickly, you must change! We let you soak at your leisure, but now we must hurry!" The head maid urged as she conducted the maids to the pale pair.

"Here, dress the girl in this! Oh, she'll look so lovely!" She gushed as Carol was dragged to the far side of the room.

"Now, for the young man." She said, spinning to face the now dry Harker.

She walked around him twice before 'aha'ing and running into another room. She came back, hands full of gold and white.

"You two, help me with him!" She called, summoning two other maids from the corner.

"What are you doing?" He asked, uncomfortable with the sheer amount of girls circling him with either studying or dull gazes.

"Dressing you, of course." The head maid answered, grabbing another golden arm brace and clasping it around his wrist.

"Ah! What is this?" She asked, tracing the tattoo on his bicep.

"Why do you bear the symbol of Ra?" She traced the dark ink in wonder, before Harker shifted away from her.

"I got it on my 18th birthday as a gift." He answered, feeling a tad uncomfortable.

"Um, could you put something over it? To hide it? It draws too much attention." He mumbled, bringing a hand up to rub the spot.

She frowned but nodded, walking off before coming back with a cape of sorts.

He quickly thought of a question, wanting to change the topic of conversation and fast.

"Um…So, what's your name, miss?" He asked, lifting his chin to allow her to place on a golden broad collar.

"My name? Neferdina." She answered, clipping the collar.

"Nice name." He commented, shifting when his kilt was pinned by a belt.

"Hm, there done! How's the girl going?"

Harker looked up and stalled, before him was Carol, decked out in fine Egyptian clothing, gold glistening and beads colouring the pale material. The only problem with the image of the pale princess, was she was frowning and her eyes were downcast.

"Wait here, I'll go announce you. Oh, this'll be so amazing!" Neferdina gushed before walking out the door.

Carol and Harker stood in silence, tense in each other's presence. Harker sighed leant against the wall behind him as Carol fidgeted, playing with the material of her dress.

" _Well, you look nice at least. That's a plus to the situation, I suppose._ " He mustered up the courage to say, gesturing to her with his hand.

She gave a small smile and thanked him before giving him a once over with her own blue eyes.

" _You look pretty handsome yourself, Harker._ " She complemented, wringing her hands.

" _Please, call me Hark, all my friends do."_

The two smiled at each other, before snapping their heads towards the door when Neferdina called for them. They looked at one another, tension leaking back into their forms.

" _Let's go, we're in this together."_ He said, before offering his hand. " _I'll be your guard dog."_

" _Thank you, dear hound._ " She laughed quietly as she took his offered hand.

He smirked, " _Woof._ "

As they walked towards the archway, the sound grew louder and their smiles dropped until Harker was once again glaring and Carol's eyes were downcast.

The two tensed as the room quietened upon their arrival, Harker giving a growl when he saw a man reach for Carol's hand. He narrowed his eyes and stood to his full height, making the men slink away a bit.

"This – These are the slaves called Carol and Harker?" Menfuisu asked as he walked up to them, face showing a pleasantly stunned expression.

" _You threw us in a tub and slapped a bunch of cloth on us, you didn't change our faces."_ Harker grumbled, making Carol laugh quietly.

"And they speak a different language!"

Harker felt Carol fidget under the attention and pulled her into him, using his thick arm to circle her thin frame. He narrowed his eyes when he saw the bald man again, his gaze still giving Harker bad vibes.

He growled before looking to Menfuisu, they made eye contact and he guided Carol over to where the Pharaoh draped himself over, plush seat, chubby with cushions. Harker looked at it and thought of the hard bed back in Sephora and Sechi's home, frowning at the state of the country.

He gave a short, quiet swear as he and Carol were tugged down onto the seat, Menfuisu watching them with amused eyes. Carol closed her eyes and stiffened, rearing back into Harker's side.

"Do you plan on disobeying me? If you keep on being stubborn, what will happen to that friend of yours…you know?" Menfuisu cooed as he rested his elbow on her shoulder, stunning her.

" _Despicable! So despicable! He doesn't even act like a king!_ " She cried to Harker, the teen king letting out a loud laugh as he raised his wine-filled cup.

"It's better if you just say something!" He cheered, pouring the alcohol down his throat.

"What a beautiful golden haired girl!"

The two Westerners turned sharply, coming face to face with the bald man. Carol stiffened and looked at him with stunned confusion as he reached out and grabbed a lock of her hair. Harker growled and pulled her into his lap, away from the two men's hands.

" _Are all Egyptian men so grabby?"_ He asked, placing a plush pillow in Carol's arms as a source of security.

The man frowned before retreating back down the stairs and standing before the trio, he raised his hand and spoke loudly over the royals.

"Tonight, all the officials are present here. I shall the report to his majesty Menfuisu."

The music stopped and the people's chatter died down, all attention focussing on the man at the centre. Harker glanced down when he noticed Carol begin to fidget, she was looking around him a worried expression on her face.

"What is it, Grand Priest Kapta?" The Pharaoh asked, taking another mouthful of alcohol.

"According to the prophecy of the Gods, I would like to advise the King Menfuisu of Upper and Lower Egypt, that you should marry. For the pride of Egypt, we hope that your Majesty will find a beautiful bride, and expect descendants soon." The priest said, getting varied reactions from around the room.

Harker looked away from the old man and dragged his eyes across the room, taking in the sights around him. A happy gasp drew his attention, making him look to a woman sitting quite close to them, a royal then.

She was tanned like the others, but her hair was a pale brown instead of black, making him raise an eyebrow. Not Egyptian then, Turkish maybe?

He looked down at Carol, smiling slightly when he saw how rapt her attention was on the new information. He sighed before looking back up at the old man, to see his holding his staff up as he exclaimed the next words.

"We Egyptians have always valued the preservation of the royal bloodline since the ancient times. Therefore, His Majesty Menfuisu new bride is his sister! The prophecy has stated the only Her Highness Ashisu is the perfect bride!"

The crowd rung out with cheers as people toasted happily, agreeing with the new royal couple.

"Okay, I understand. The wedding will take place in a month." Menfuisu declared, raising a hand to calm the crowd.

Ashisu leapt up from her seat, wrapped her arms around her brother's neck and planted a kiss on his lips. Menfuisu stood stunned, eyes wide as his sister moved against him before breaking off. Harker raised an eyebrow at the scene, amused by the Pharaoh's stunned expression.

" _Hey, is that okay? What about inbred diseases?"_ Harker asked, slouching to whisper into Carol's ear.

" _In ancient Egypt, it's common for brothers and sisters to marry. Pharaoh Chutan married his sister too!_ " Carol answered before turning back.

" _A real wedding will take place, right before my very eyes!"_ Harker gave a laugh as she swooned at the thought.

Ashisu turned and declared her intentions of leaving the palace to purify herself before attending to the Gods, making Carol gasp and fling herself out of Harker's lap. Harker blinked before leaning back and watching Carol grab Ashisu's attention. They traded words shortly, before the princess turned and floated down the hall, obviously on cloud nine.

A sudden presence made him glance to the side, the other Princess was fast approaching the Pharaoh, a look of confusion on her face.

"Pharaoh, was your proposal a joke? I do love you!" She asked, heartbreak clear in her actions.

Harker frowned at the teen king, not at all impressed by the notches in his belt. He sighed before bringing his knee up to his chest, turning away from the brown haired princess – Of Hitato he found - to face Carol. He raised an eyebrow as she beckoned him to follow, an urgent look on her face.

" _Quickly, now's our chance! We need to see Sechi!_ " She whispered, before turning and running from the room of drunk officials, Harker hot on her heels.

()()()

Harker sighed as he followed after a cloak-clad Carol, both of the keeping their heads down. He tilted his head, trying to catch the wind when a barely there noise caught his interest, screaming? Not surprising, considering where they are.

" _Sechi's cell should be around here, I think."_ Carol mumbled, drawing his attention.

He gave a hum in agreement, walking a little closer to her as to obscure her shadow that stretched along the wall.

"Here he is." Harker said, jumping to Egyptian for Sechi's sake.

"Sechi! Your wounds look so deep, it's all my fault…I'm so sorry." Carol cried as she dropped to her knees by the bars of his cell, blanket falling to pool around her feet.

Harker grabbed the metal bars and tried his luck as the two smaller teens spoke, he grunted before relaxing his grip, didn't work.

"Carol, Harker! There you are…" The two turned sharply to see the Pharaoh stalking towards them, annoyance clear on his face.

" _Finally remembered us, eh?"_ Harker mumbled, one arm dropping from the bars as he shifted to face the teen king more.

"You don't have permission to be around here! You should be obedient and stay by my side!" The king yelled as he dragged Carol away, knowing that Harker would eventually follow, even if he couldn't drag him himself.

Harker growled but turned to Sechi quickly.

"Sechi, we're doing our best up top to keep the lashings to a minimum. We'll get you out as soon as we can, for now just stay on your best behaviour. Carol's really sorry, I'm sorry. We're sorry that we dragged you into this mess."

"Harker!"

He turned to the call and sighed, giving Sechi one last smile, he jogged to catch up with the Pharaoh.

()()()

Harker grumbled as he leant against the backboard of the plush seat, narrowing his eyes at the Pharaoh that sat between himself and Carol. He closed his eyes and let his head loll back, trying to see if he could just sleep through the party.

"Here, drink this." Menfuisu urged, handing Carol a cup of wine, his other arm draped along the board behind her.

"I don't drink alcohol." She rejected, turning her head away.

"Are you saying you won't drink my liquor?" He asked, anger seeping into his tone.

"I don't know how!" She tried to explain, turning to him with a pleading expression.

The Pharaoh snarled and grabbed her hair, dragging her closer before forcing the contents of the cup into her mouth.

Harker snapped up when he felt the harsh shift in the fabric, a small swear falling from his lips when he saw the scene. He reached out sharply, strong arms wrapping around the king's waist and dragging him away from the small girl.

"What did you do, little king?" He growled into the man's ear, using one had to rub Carol's back soothingly.

The Pharaoh stayed silent, stunned by the sudden warmth that spread along his back. He watched as Carol gagged on the burn of the alcohol, unsure if she was faking it. From the way Harker was reacting to her pain, however, he could guess it was real and that she had never taken a drink before.

He reached out from the constrictions of Harker's arms and dragged her towards him, before planting a kiss on her mouth. The girl was pretty enough, and her body would be a sight to see, all of its pearly white skin on display.

The reactions he got, however, were not what he expected. Both of the pale people tensed before responding, Carol reared back and slapped him across the face, successfully releasing herself from the lip lock and Harker tightened his grip to the point of painful.

"What are you doing!?" The two yelled, their voices giving off a harmony of shock and anger.

"I'm not your slave!"

" _Dude_! You can't just kiss people!"

Menfuisu stood sharply, breaking free from Harker's arms, a hand covering the reddening part of his face. He looked down at Carol, face deadly calm.

"How dare you hit me?"

The people surrounding them broke from their shocked silence, breaking out into whispers and mumbles of the death penalty.

Carol gasped and recoiled from him, realising just who she had hit. Harker tensed, leaning forwards slightly, ready to bowl the king over should he need to.

"Hold on for a minute!"

The people quieted as the Pharaoh turned and began walking away, cape fluttering dramatically behind him.

" _I thought I'd be killed immediately…"_ Carol whimpered as Harker walked up behind her, giving a stuttered hum of agreement.

()()()

"That _could_ have gone worse, I suppose. I mean, neither of us are dead." Harker spoke, dropping down on the large bed in the chambers they had been discarded in after the scuffle with the Pharaoh.

"He kissed me! I'm no slave! Oh, how am I going to face Jimmy after this!?" Carol cried, throwing herself beside her fellow westerner.

"Who's Jimmy, you're boyfriend?" He asked, shifting to sit up against the wall.

"Uh huh, I miss him so much!"

"Oh God, please don't cry."

Harker scrambled to his knees, hands hovering around Carol hastily.

"Oh God, what do I do? What do I do? Can I hug you? Give you a pat you on the back? Hold your hand? Give you chocolate? Twelve years of school never prepared me for this!"

Harker's hands hovered unsurely as he stared down at the sobbing girl, his arms dropping by the twentieth minute.

"Hey, what's going on in there?!" Someone called from the outside, making the the white skinned boy try to silence the girl.

"I want to go home, please! We can't be here! We're not Egyptian!" Carol cried, pushing herself from the cotton sheets.

"Carol, you've already said this. Saying it louder and again won't make any difference." Harker hissed, his own nerves frayed and the useless repetition not helping.

"But Harker, we-"

"No buts, be happy you're alive and –for the most part- well. Focus on getting Sechi out of the prison _we_ put him in, that means we have to be on our best behaviour."

The taller Westerner glared down at his female companion warningly, only withdrawing when she gave a defeated nod.

"Good, now let's get to bed. I'll sleep by the window."

()()()

Harker watched silently as the royal siblings farewelled each other, both preparing for their own travels.

"Carol! What are you doing?! Don't be slow!" Menfuisu snapped, glaring at her out of the corner of his eye.

" _Again. He only knows how to yell._ " Harker hummed in reply to her whisper as he stood, following after the Pharaoh tiredly.

"Keep pulling!" The young king yelled, raising his fist as if to threaten the slaves beneath them.

" _What is this, an intimidation tactic?_ " Harker mumbled quietly, shifting behind Carol as she admired the historic sight before her.

Harker grunted when he saw a slave fall, only to be lashed when he attempted to stand again, the others trying to keep away.

"How weird, that means she disappeared without a trace." Carol whispered, looking to the new party of people.

"Who?" Harker asked, coming to attention.

"The princess of Haiti, she hasn't returned home, but she isn't in Egypt anymore." She replied, turning to her taller companion.

"Isn't in Egypt, huh?" He hummed, mind glancing back to the scream he had heard.

Harker glanced at the soldiers turned back, noticing a certain something about their atmosphere that was…off-putting. He watched passively as a servant brought out a large horse, handing the reigns to the Pharaoh before scuttling away.

"Your Majesty, the statues from the obelisk stone factory have arrived!"

"Excellent, we'll go there immediately!" The king responded, mounting the horse as he did.

Harker sighed, before following after Carol as she walked with a maid carrying a box of sorts.

" _So how did the talk with Ashisu go?"_ He asked, folding his hands behind his back, looking down at his smaller companion.

" _Not good, she says that she can't get me home. That the tablet is the source of her power, and that since it is broken, I can't go back."_

" _Tablet?"_

"Snake!"

"His Majesty Menfuisu has been bitten!"

The two Westerners stalled before turning to the main building in surprise, their blue eyes wide as they listened to the chaos.

Glancing over at Carol, Harker blinked when he saw her face jump from understandable worry, to stubborn bitterness, giving a huff as she spun around and walked away.

" _Bitten by a cobra? This is karma, so serves him right. Let Menfuisu suffer."_

" _Damn, that's cold."_ He hummed, stepping up beside her.

" _But,"_ Harker started, pausing the girl with a hand on her shoulder. " _If he dies, things could very well get harder for us. The next in command is Ashisu, and from what I can tell, she and you aren't exactly buddy-buddy."_

Carol brought her hand to her mouth in a moment of thought, glancing from her male companion to the castle dorms frequently.

"The Pharaoh is dying!"

"The doctor can't save him!?"

" _I don't want him to die, he should just experience a bit of pain!"_

The white skinned teens paused as mutters reached their ears, silencing both of them as they listened, horror and shock painting their faces as they pieced together the ancient dialect.

"Menfuisu is still unmarried, so it's no problem."

"Then who will be the next king?"

"King Menfuisu sure was a scary person."

"Oi, he's not dead yet! Shut your traps!" Harker roared, silencing the gossiping officials, and by extension, the remaining occupants of the panic-stricken room.

" _Harker, when I was bitten, my brother Ryan told me to carry around the medicine everywhere in case it happened again. It's from the 21st century, so it should be able to fight off the venom from the cobra! He'll be alright if I give this to him right now!"_ Carol explained, showing the Australian her small black pill.

" _If it's for cobra bites, the antivenom should work. Okay, let's give it a try."_ He nodded, before the two turned and ran through the crowd, reaching the panting king with surprising ease.

Carol raised up the young king's head and forced her fingers into his mouth, slipping the pill between his teeth with the abridged explanation of her intention, begging the dark skinned man to swallow it for his own sake.

"Ow!"

Harker tensed as Carol withdrew her bloodied fingers, teeth marks beading with blood as she cradled it to her chest. As the pill fell from the teen king's lips, the pale boy lurched forwards, prying open the Egyptian's mouth and forcing the pill back in, an English curse on his lips.

"Swallow it, you _bloody fucker_. You'll die otherwise!"

The two white Westerners let out mirroring yelps as guards and servants grabbed them, the General Minue exclaiming their treachery.

"What did you make him swallow?! You must really hate him to do so when he's in such a state!"

A long and loud sigh left the lying man, causing the people to turn their attention to his form, relieved whispers bursting forth as he relaxed into his bedding.

"His face is regaining colour." Carol breathed, a hand resting over her fast beating heart.

"It was medicine, General, not poison." Harker sighed, yanking himself free from the loosened hands.

"I'm sorry, I jumped to conclusions." General Minue apologised, turning to look at the disgruntled pair of Westerners.

"Please, could you care for him?"

The tallest pale skin turned to Carol, an eyebrow raised in question as she let out a breath, her face setting into concentration as she tried to remember remedies for snake bites.

"The medicine is doing most of the work, but we're going to have to get the Pharaoh to sweat out as much of the poison he can." Harker stated, stepping forwards as he gestured to a servant girl.

"We need to change his dressing."

"Yes!"

"You, bring hot water."

"I-immediately!"

The golden haired teen sighed as the room burst into action, Carol asking those who could serve no purpose to leave, spare Minue and the royal doctor.

" _You seem to know a lot about snake bites, Hark."_ She hummed, coming up next the to man as he shifted the teen king lower down the bed to allow him to lay, rather than be propped up.

" _What did you expect? I'm Australian, sweetheart."_ He smirked, flashing her his teeth teasingly as she flushed at the pet name.

" _Honestly."_ She sighed, before taking a bowl of hot water from a girl.

Harker and Carol fussed over the bedridden Pharaoh well into the night, maids and servants coming to refill their lamps as they burned low.

"Oi, can you go and reheat this? Thanks." The tall Westerner sighed, fighting off a yawn as another nameless servant ran from the room.

Turning back to the bed, he paused when he saw Carol fast asleep on the edge, kneeling on the floor as she rested her head of gold on the white sheets. Harker took a moment to glance at the running water of the nearby Nile, the idea of an easy escape flashing through his mind, before a faint whimper escaped his fellow Westerner. He sighed quietly, before a bitter smile touched his face, letting walk forwards and gently scooped up the lightly clothed girl.

"Can you get her some blankets and a pillow?" Harker whispered, sending another girl on a quick run to their dorm.

He stood, waiting for a few minutes, before accepting the thick blankets and chubby pillow. Organising the material in the corner as a kind of nest, Harker lowered his female companion into it, draping a thinner sheet over her body.

" _Hm...Harker?"_

" _It's fine Carol, I'll burn the midnight oil tonight. You get some rest."_ He breathed, waving her off as she rubbed her tired eyes.

" _Okay...I'll do...tomorrow.."_

The pale skinned boy smiled quietly as he watched Carol drop back into sleep, her body curling further onto the soft material.

Harker leant against the wall beside the Pharaoh's bed, all of the castle staff and occupants had retired for the night, and the same could be said about the rest of ancient Egypt. Blue eyes watching as lamps were put out, one after another along the inky black horizon.

"You better get well soon, little Pharaoh. There's a lot of things you've still got left to do on this Earth." He muttered, taking the damp towel from the steaming bowl and patting down tanned skin.

()()()

" _Why is it taking him so long to recover? It's been more than a day."_ Carol fussed, gently forcing the sleeping Pharaoh to instinctively swallowed another mouthful of water.

" _Give it time, Carol. He's on the mend, just a bit longer. A day, tops."_ Harker sighed, resisting the urge to rub his eyes.

The tallest of the two Westerners hadn't slept since the Egyptian king had gone under, keeping himself awake by constantly busying himself, not trusting the tanned teen to remain stable should attention be shifted from his health.

The two white-skinned teens bustled around the room, the General Minue and his fellow aristocrats watching from the doorway, Harker making the strict rule that only those who could be of use could enter the room. The Australian boy rung out another damp cloth before draping it over the young king's forehead, reaching around Carol to feel for a pulse, nodding when he found it steady. Stepping back, Harker looked to the noisy market streets a ways away from the castle, gossip about the king's health being traded like drugs under the guard's watch.

" _Ah...Harker?"_

" _Hm?"_ He responded, turning away to look at Carol, blinking when he saw her uncomfortable fidgeting.

" _What's up?"_

" _Menfuisu, he-ah- he...he wet himself."_

Harker stared blankly at Carol for another moment, slowly turning her statement over in his head, before a loud slap echoed through the room as his palm met his face.

" _He wet himself. Like, as in, 'wet the bed', wet."_

" _Uh huh."_

"What's going on? What are you two talking about?" Minue asked, stepping forwards, before shifting his foot back when Harker looked at it pointedly when it crossed the line he had drawn in kohl.

"We're going to have to give the Pharaoh a bath. Right now." The tallest Westerner sighed, placing his hands on his hips as he glanced over his shoulder at the damp cloth sticking to the king's thighs.

"Why? Does it have something to do with the venom?!"

"Well...Yes, and no." Carol tried, coming up next to Harker.

"What do you m-"

"Your Pharaoh just wet himself!" She squeaked, stepping back as the men surged forwards.

"Behind the line!" Harker roared, freezing the aristocrats in their place.

"Now, you blokes watch yourself. Carol here was just answering your question. It is completely normal for unconscious people to have little control over their bladder. Their muscles aren't responding to anything right now, so they just leak." He lectured, crossing his arms and he set his lips in a firm line.

"Now, what we're going to do is give him a hot bath, wash him off and get him back into bed. Simple as that."

The men at the door mumbled to themselves, parting to let a trio of maids scuttle into the room and stand ready for their next order.

Grimacing, Harker bent before picking up the soiled king, cringing as dampness touched his skin.

"Quickly. Quickly." He urged, forcing the girls to run faster, preparing the bath at a rapid speed.

" _Carol, cover your eye please."_ Harker called, English making the golden girl respond faster than any Arabic order.

With her blue eyes hidden from the outside world, Harker gave a loud sigh before removing the teen's kilt, lowering him immediately into the misty water.

"Clean him." He breathed, stepping from the Pharaoh as the girls came, cloth and soaps in hand.

"The General says that you're the only ones who can touch him." One mumbled, bowing quickly.

The trio flinched when Harker spun around, sharp blue eyes cutting into the military man behind them.

"Really, General? Really?" He asked, his face scrunched up in defeated disbelief.

"I only trust you and Carol with his Majesty's health right now."

" _Ffffffffuck!"_

Carol let out a quiet giggle.

" _Don't you be cackling over there, you'll do this next time!"_

Harker grumbled to himself as he snatched the rag and soap from the girls, the three of them scrambling away as they saw his blue eyes flash with every English curse. Dropping to his knees beside the submerged king, the Australian teen began to lather the cloth with the aromatic soaps, transferring the cleansers to tanned skin. Shaking his head, Harker sucked up his pride and began to clean his ward properly, getting layers of poisoned sweat off the royal's skin. He hesitated for less than a second, before he began to properly clean the site of the mess, swearing to never let Priti find out about this.

"There, done. Get a towel." Harker called, throwing aside his damp rag.

The young Australian scowled as he fell back on his heels, letting his forearms hang off his knees and his hands drip into the bath waters. As the girls came back into the room, armed with towels and clothes, Harker scooped up the teen king, allowing for him to be rubbed of the water and wrapped in cloth again.

Carol smiled as she came up next to her fellow Westerner, his grumbling and cursing amusing her more and more.

"Hush, girly. Or do you want to hold the Pharaoh?"

Her jaw clicked shut, and he gave a gruff breath of victory.

()()()

" _His fever has gone down."_ Harker sighed, leaning against the wall as he tried to hide the shaking of his legs.

" _Yes, and colour is returning to his face!"_ Carol cooed, gently swiping away the new sheet of sweat from tanned skin.

"How is he? How is the Pharaoh Menfuisu?" General Minue asked, returning from a meeting he much rather of not gone to.

"One more night. He should be conscious by the morning, perhaps early afternoon." The Western boy responded, turning to the excitedly chattering crowd by the door.

The smile the black haired official gave him was nothing short of absolute gratitude.

()()()

" _One more night. Just one more night, Hark. C'mon, you can do it."_ Harker sighed, slapping his cheeks with damp hands as the last lamp went out on the horizon.

Carol was curled up in the corner on her nest, the officials and servants had retired for the night after providing the last bowl of water and fresh towels, leaving the tallest man in the castle to tend to the resting king.

A groan made him jump and spin around, dashing back to the bedside when a dry cough burst forth from the young Pharaoh's lips.

" _I look away for one second and- Jesus!"_

Harker quickly filled a bedazzled cup with cool water and slipped his arm beneath the tanned teen, shifting him tell he rested against Harker's chest, his body sitting up against the pale flesh behind him. Carefully, the Westerner began to fill Menfuisu mouth with the liquid, pausing to let him swallow.

"You're not allowed to die, Pharaoh Menfuisu. There is still much for you to do here in the land of the living."

()()()

The Pharaoh winced as he sat up, holding his head as a wave of nausea hit him.

"Ah, my head hurts." He groaned, opening his eyes as a servant rushed to his side.

"You're awake? You're alive! This is great!" She gasped, her voice grating against his ears.

"How did I survive? Cobra bites are fatal, it should be impossible!"

"It's all because of Harker and Carol! They nursed you day and night, they haven't slept in three days!"

Menfuisu gaped at the woman, turning his attention to the head of gold that lay slumped at the foot of his bed, steady breaths leaving her slim body.

Then...While I was still in pain, the people who appeared before me for almost the entire time. They were Carol and Harker's pure white faces!

A scowl stretched across his handsome face as his ears filled with phantom voices, irritation bubbling beneath his skin.

" _Quick! Eat something!"_

" _You're not allowed to die!"_

" _Stay strong!"_

" _You still have so much to do!"_

How annoying, how dare they speak such nonsense?!

"Huh..." Carol drawled, sitting up as his shifting finally woke her.

A wave of emotion hit him, the tender graces making him pause his violent advance, instead, creating it into one of a much different intent.

"Huh? Menfuisu, what are you-!?"

"Oh? Has the Pharaoh finally awoken, then?"

Menfuisu looked up from Carol's fearful face to see Harker walking in, a faint slouch in his posture catching his attention, as well as the faint darkness beneath his eyes. There was a soft smile on his face that disarmed the teen king for a moment, his heart pausing for less than a moment as the taller male placed down a fruit platter next to his bed, handing off a bowl of cooled water to a servant.

"So, you feeling better there, Little Pharaoh?"

"..." The tanned teen opened his mouth mutely at the elder boy, trying to form words, only to be saved as a slam rung through the room.

"Menfuisu!"

"Ah, sister!" The Pharaoh breathed, turning his attention to the rapidly approaching relative.

"My prayers to the Gods worked," She gasped, collecting her younger brother in her arms. "If you had died, I wouldn't have been able to live either!"

Her prayers?

The teenaged king let out a laugh, placing a hand on the priestess' shoulder to draw her attention to this expression.

"No sister, Harker and Carol are the ones who saved me!"

Ashisu stilled as she watched her brother lay himself out on his plush bed, a whimsical look painting his tanned face.

He's...No, no, no!

()()()

Menfuisu hummed to himself as he let small flecks of memory dance behind his eyelids, the pale faces of his two caretakers flashing against the black.

" _I look away for two seconds and- Jesus!"_

 _A firm warmth was pressed against his feverish form, the burning sensation reaching an almost pleasing point as cool contrast was slipping into his mouth, fingers prying his mouth open._

 _They stayed like that for a while longer, a solid warmth supporting his frail form, periodically feeding him water and small portions of food._

It was Harker's chest he was leaning against, no doubt. He remembered it well from the banquet.

" _More water, thank you."_

 _A small, gentle hand was placed on his forehead, the soft texture measuring his temperature before wiping away the sweaty build up. Cool flesh leaving trails over his own skin._

Carol's hand, just like when he first grasped her.

A firm warmth. A gentle cool.

The smiling Pharaoh felt a lightness in his chest, unaware of the poisonous expression that marred his sister's face.

()()()

" _Why did we save that despicable Pharaoh, Hark?"_ The Westerner girl asked, gathering up a large bouquet of water flowers.

" _He's terrible, that Menfuisu! Oh, I don't care anymore!"_ She shouted, stamping her foot on the heated stone flooring.

" _Carol,"_ Harker breathed from his seat on the steps, the said girl turning around in the patch of lilies. " _I'm really tired. Maybe we should get back to the room?"_

His blond companion jolted at the mention, speedily stepping up in front of the older boy and grasping his face. Blue eyes scanned his complexion, Harker's own blue clouded with weariness.

" _You didn't sleep once, did you? Oh, Harker, you should have told me to stay awake instead of putting yourself through that!"_

" _You're already emotionally drained as it is, no need for you to be physically drained."_ He responded, grasping her wrist weakly.

" _But-"_

"You! Slaves!"

The two Westerners jolted as Carol's arm was grasped by an Egyptian man, another coming to grab Harker and haul them both to their feet.

"I will buy you! Come, quickly!" The man shouted, drawing them away from the grounds.

Harker gritted his teeth, strength sapped easily as he fought to keep himself awake.

"Let us go! Who are you?" Carol gasped, trying to dig her heels into the sand.

"Quiet! Come obediently!"

"Oi, drop her!" Harker tried, weakly trying to pry his arms out of beefy hands as he was forced to walk after his flailing companion.

" _Shit! It's just one thing after another, isn't it!?"_

()()()

The white skinned boy snapped his teeth at the hands that wandered close to him, his arms and legs tied up after he was tossed in the corner of the room. Harker gave a look of disgust as the smell of decomposition, oils and smoke reached him, a look around the room assuring him that he was in a morgue.

Shit.

"Someone told me to make you a mummy! My family specialises in this! I'll be getting a lot of money out of this. Get on the table, quick!" The man holding Carol laughed, all too giddy about the situation.

"No!" She shrieked, throwing herself against the wall.

" _Harker, help!"_

" _I would, but I'm in a bit of a bind, myself!"_ The frustrated teen responded, trying to loosen the ropes.

" _God damn it- Carol, if he's not holding you, get out of here!"_

At the shout, the blond haired girl turned and tried to flee, only to have all of the people in the room descend on her, hands grasping pale skin and splaying her out on the stone table.

"Stop! Let me go! _Harker!"_

"Golden hair, hey? Such a pretty colour, shame I have to kill you." The undertaker hummed, grasping Carol's locks.

"No choice, though. If I don't follow orders, she'll kill me as well."

The shouts of the two Westerners came to a harmony as they both wrestled their bonds, spent bodies working fruitlessly.

" _We're not going to-"_ Harker growled, wrists rubbed raw.

The boy fell silent as a flash shot through the door, a blade burrowing into the undertaker's back, hitting his heart.

Carol gasped as the man slipped off her, his co-workers crowding his fallen body. Her blue eyes gleamed with tears as she vaulted off the table and knelt at Harker's side, wrestling the ropes off his wrists and feet. Giving a cry, the girl threw herself at the older boy, her heart racing as her body shook.

"Menfuisu." Harker breathed, wrapping an arm around Carol protectively as the teen Pharaoh slumped against the doorway.

"Harker...Carol..."

" _H-he's still weak."_ The Western girl hiccupped, looking up at the wobbly king.

The teenaged royal dropped to his knees in front of the floored pair, a look of absolute relief on his face as he let his hands glide along their skin.

"It's a good thing I made it in time." He said, a tired smile coming to his face as he cupped the girl's face.

"I've decided," The two Westerners blinked at the strength in his voice, conviction working to overpower physical drain. "I no longer want to marry my sister."

' _I don't blame you.'_ The white boy though, looking to the dead body, an inkling telling him who set this up.

"I want you to be my wives, Ancient Egypt's Wives." He claimed as embraced the two Westerners.

"Ah, no. Firstly, you're roughly 3000 years Carol's senior, 3050 for me." Harker denied, face deadpanned. "And secondly, I ain't a wife, I'm a guy!"

"Harker's right! I don't want to marry you, either!" Carol exclaimed, pushing the man off them and dragging her companion to his unsteady feet.

"...I don't understand." Menfuisu breathed, looking between the pale pair.

"I don't love you!"

Harker jolted as Carol was pressed against the wall, a furious Pharaoh binding her hands.

"Why!?"

"Pharaoh, stop!" He tried, stumbling as a wave of dizziness hit him.

"Harker!" The golden girl exclaimed, moving to him, only to have her hands bound again.

The free hand of the Pharaoh shot out, grasping the weakened Westerner male by the golden collar and dragging him closer to the royal.

"Why do you reject me?!"

"You're acting spoilt, that's why!" Harker shot back, nerves frayed and head pounding.

A shout left Carol as General Minue wrestled the teen to the ground, Menfuisu doing the same to her. The nobleman winced when he noticed how easily the man in his grasp went down, wondering just how far he was pushing himself to stay awake.

His attention was pulled away, however, as the teen king began to sway, heavy breaths leaving him.

"Your Majesty! You're still unwell from the bite!"

He turned to the door and called for the soldiers standing by to collect the king's ailed body, only relaxing when he was placed on a stretcher.

Looking over his shoulder, the General watched as Carol scrambled to the golden boy's side, gently rubbing reddened wrists. The Westerner's own hand came to rub away a tear trail, both of them speaking to each other in an otherworldly dialect.

Whether they want it or not, these two were going to be the Pharaoh's Pale Pair.

* * *

 **AN: Hi, I've had people asking for the rest of this story, so I might become a bit more proactive with this, but I will be focusing more on TBD, than anything else. If you want more, be sure to ask. Relentless Pestering = Motivation, according to most parents.**

 **LeNoRi, over and out!**


	3. Chapter 3: Lilies and Lotuses

**I'm baaaack~!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Lilies and Lotuses**

Carol fidgeted on the edge of the large bed in the Westerner's dorm, glancing periodically over her shoulder at the sleeping white man. Harker had been dead on his feet by the time they had made it back to the palace, the only thing keeping him straight being his own pride. So, when he stumbled into the room and dropped onto the bed, the American girl was in no place to request him to vacate it. After all, he was the reason she was as well rested as she was.

The white skinned female gave her companion one last look before sighing, pulling back the thin sheet draped over the bed as she laid herself down, staying dangerously close to the edge. Getting comfortable, Carol tried to force herself to sleep, closing her eyes and clearing her mind.

Father is dead. I'm lost in time.

A wave of heat touched the girl's eyes as they snapped open, her breath hitching as she fought to hold back tears. The feeling of hands grabbing her all over made her shiver, blankets drawing closer as she tried to banish the thought, only to make way for another.

You said you'd stay up the next night, instead, you made Harker lose sleep for three days.

Biting her bottom lip, the American girl looked over her shoulder at the sleeping man, completely drained, too exhausted to even dream. Carefully, she reached out her pale hand and let it hover over his head of gold, unsure if she should continue, before the older male shifted, rousing despite his state.

"What's wrong, Carol?" He rumbled, English rough from sleep.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry, it's my fault you are so tired. It's my fault we were able to get caught. It's my fault Sechi is alone in that cell getting beat all day! I'm so sorry!"

By the time she had finished, the stricken girl had begun crying, salted tears dripping down her face and soaking the pillow. Days of almost nonstop events had suddenly descended on her, the mistakes that she had made weighing on her until finally, when there was a moment of peace, she broke.

A sigh sounded across from Carol, before a strong arm was wrapped around her and used to pull her closer to the other occupant of the bed. The Westerner wasted no time in wrapping thin arms around her friend, face finding a hollow in his shoulder to press against as she babbled pathetically, apologies spilling out of her in muddled messes.

"I'm sorry you're here. It's all my fault."

"It's fine. Carol, it's fine." Harker hummed, repeating the words after every plea for forgiveness.

The white man tucked the girl's head beneath his chin, hand gently petting golden hair as his collar became saturated with tears. Reaching around his companion, Harker carefully pulled the blankets higher on their forms, the cries of the other Westerner degrading to sniffles and wet breaths.

"All better?" He asked, letting the girl hide her face in his shoulder.

"...Yes. Thank you."

"It's alright. I was expecting this, sooner or later. You've been through a lot."

"Hark...How are you?"

The Westerners separated slightly to look at one another, confusion clear on the tired man's face.

"You've gone through just as much." She reasoned, her eyes falling as guilt touched her again.

"...I'll be fine. Everyone has different ways of coping." Harker hummed, rubbing her back as her breath became calm again.

"If you say so...We have to look after each other, Hark. I can't do much, but if there is something I can do, I will do it."

The two Westerners watched the other for a few moments, candle lights flickering in the background of each other, causing shadows to move across pale skin. Slowly, Harker began to nod, understanding reflecting in blue orbs.

"Yeah, we've gotta watch out for each other. We're all we have out here."

Carol gave a watery smile, causing the other to give a tired one in return, before she buried her face in her friend's shoulder, a laugh leaving her airily.

"I must look terrible."

"Oh please, I've seen worse."

Harker felt her smile against his skin as he gave a loud yawn, arms busied by the body clinging to him, causing the sound to be undeterred.

"I woke you up, I'm sorry. You can sleep, I won't disrupt you again." The American breathed, settling against her companion.

"Sounds good to me. G'night, Carol." The elder grumbled, curling around the smaller form slightly.

"Good night, Hark."

()()()

"Release me!"

Menfuisu gritted his teeth as he shook off his guards, his pride forcing his body to move without aid.

The sun had long since risen, and yet there was no sign of the golden set coming out of their chamber. The two pale folk were causing the Pharaoh an unrest that he despised but had no desire to cease, wanting them closer.

"My Pharaoh, let us go and get them for you, you are still unwell!" Minue tried, only to get brushed off as the teen king turned the corner and barged towards the room.

The young king waved his hands at the guards posted before the door of the pale folk's room, the men letting him past before slamming them behind him, cutting off the calls of slaves and advisors, leaving him alone in the chamber with two still forms. Menfuisu stalked up to the pair, a scowl contorting his face when he noticed them still under the veil of sleep, a distasteful emotion bubbling in his stomach when he saw how they were entwined. The bubble came to a boil, a cocktail taking place as a spectrum of emotion came, his anger slowly melting away to be replaced by a kind of awe as he took in the sight.

Within a sunlit room, draped in fine clothes, gold and jewels hanging off sculptured bodies. Pale skin blending, golden strands intermingled across the white cotton of their sheets. The two exotic people slept peacefully before the Pharaoh, gifting him a view he believed to be of the rarest kind. Black eyes scanned the display carefully, fully intent on memorising the scene until he could get a skilled craftsman to recreate it in an immortalised form, forever there for him to gaze upon.

The sight was so picturesque, that the teen king's hand couldn't help but reach out, tanned fingers coming to graze the strong shoulder of the male, a low noise escaping the white man. Menfuisu withdrew his hand as Harker shifted, arms coiling around his companion further, causing her to give her own noise of comfort. The Pharaoh let out a breath of relief, eyes closing as he calmed himself, assured that he had not destroyed the perfect scene, only to open them and freeze under the sleep-heavy blue of the Western man.

Harker groaned as he blinked at the light, the form of Menfuisu becoming clear to him after a few piercing moments. He shifted carefully, wary of the girl curled up beside him, before raising himself on his arm, jewellery leaving indented patterns across his bare abdomen.

"Hey, Pharaoh." He rumbled, voice rough from sleep.

"..." Menfuisu blinked in stunned silence as the other reached out, rough, pale hand resting on his forehead to feel his temperature.

Black eyes remained fixated on the Western man's face as the hand slipped down his own to rest on his neck, feeling out the pulse as the sleepy mind counted the beats. Harker eventually smiled, small and soft, head tilting slightly.

"You're getting better. That's good."

"Y...Yes." The king managed out, scalding hand leaving a trail of warmth in its wake.

"No...Not quite there yet," The golden haired man sighed suddenly, feeling the pulse under his fingers speed up. "You need more time. Not quite well enough. Go back to bed, Menfuisu."

"...Okay."

"I'll come check on you later...I'm just...really tired." Harker breathed, blinks becoming more sluggish.

"...Okay." Menfuisu repeated, finding himself unable to go against the requests of the warm man.

"Tell the General to clear any appointments you have today, and that you need rest. If he finds it displeasing, he can come to me about it." He continued, fading off as he talked at the king, hand slipping further down tanned skin.

The Pharaoh lifted his hand and caught the pale fingers, blinking when he found their hands of equal size.

"I'm...I'm gonna go back to sleep..." The white man muttered, lowering himself back to the sheets, small arms finding him easily in their sleep.

Menfuisu let the palm slip from his grasp, rough skin leaving behind a warm sensation on his own and making him give an unwitting noise of distress.

"My Pharaoh, please!"

The teen king's trance broke at the call, the General's voice slipping into the room, guards still separating them from the slumbering Westerners. Menfuisu gritted his teeth when he realised the warmth in his gut, spinning on his heel and storming from the chamber, shoving past his advisors as he exited. A grunt left him as he flopped down on his lush bedding, crossing his arms and closing his eyes as he ignored the questions of the people around him.

"Minue, I am not going anywhere today, I want to sleep. Everyone, leave!" The Pharaoh commanded, making the servants scramble, advisors following and leaving the General alone with his king.

"Harker said that I am still unwell, and that I should rest longer. All engagements are off today, inform them."

"Very well, your majesty."

Menfuisu reclined further into this cushions, a sigh of content leaving him as he allowed his mind to wander to warm and cool hands, pale skins, sapphire eyes and gold hair.

()()()

"How dare you disobey me! Slit off her wrists!"

Carol whipped her head around to the call, the sounds of impacts making her flinch. The Westerner girl bit her lip before moving to flee back to the room where Harker was still sleeping, only to be stopped by the spears of guards, the rightmost speaking first.

"Lady Carol, you cannot leave the Pharaoh's side!"

"Please, return to his Majesty!"

The American gave a yelp as she was pushed back into the bustling room, a quiet gasp escaping as she looked up to lock eyes with the standing king.

"Where are you going? You're not allowed to take a single step outside of the palace!" Menfuisu bellowed, making the teen flinch, her eyes closing on reflex.

"I'm thirsty, bring me water."

Carol winced as a responsive servant was struck, the order turned on the American, making her scramble to the far side of the room, where a young girl had already prepared a tray with a goblet, handing it off to the white skinned female. She took the tray and moved back over to the lounging Pharaoh, her tongue held between her teeth as she tried to hold her hands steady.

' _Oh, why did we save such a terrible man? I don't think I could ever grow to like him.'_

The small Westerner hesitated by the side of the teen king's bed, waiting for him to reach for the tyrant to make a move for the cup, only for the boy to snap at her again.

"Bring it closer!"

Blue eyes widened as her wrist was grabbed roughly, the cup in her grasp brought to the Pharaoh's lips as he looked deliberately at his captive. Carol made a noise of surprise before she was dragged forwards, the tray falling as she was pulled to the bed, both arms now claimed by the Egyptian.

"Sit down beside me!" Menfuisu ordered, drawing the pale girl into his lap, practically.

"No!" Was her immediate response, the grip on her wrists tightening at the rebellion.

"Why do you keep disobeying me?! I told you to sit, so you must!"

"I don't want to sit! That hurts, let me go!"

"Menfuisu, brother!" Came the voice of Arisu, the Pharaoh halting his assault on the Westerner to look over his shoulder and acknowledge his Priestess and sister.

"I have something to talk to you about." She continued, sending the girl in his hold a glance.

The Egyptian tyrant frowned slightly, before releasing Carol, turning her to face the grounds beyond the alabaster stairs.

"Go to the courtyard. Now!"

The white skinned girl wasted no time in fleeing the room containing the royals, a breath of relief leaving her as she stepped out into the sunlight.

" _Thank goodness that Arisu came when she did...otherwise I don't know what would have happened to me next."_ Carol breathed, a hand on her racing heart.

" _Boo!"_

A shriek escaped the Western woman at the sudden noise, servants freezing and snapping their attention to the wail, only to relax as laughter followed.

Carol attempted to protect her sides as Harker ran his fingers against the sensitive nerve ends, making high-pitched cries leave his friend, a malicious grin stretching across his cheeks when she pleaded for mercy. Eventually, the Australian decided that she had had enough and pulled back, the American gasping for breath as she leant heavily against him.

" _H-how are you feeling? Better?"_ The white girl gasped, holding the boy's biceps both for support and to keep a watch on them.

" _After the sleep? Much better, thanks."_ Harker answered, smiling down at his companion, before stepping back and looking to the water lilies.

" _You wanna grab some more lilies? You seem to like them in our room."_

The young girl smiled widely before nodding, the two of them moving to the edge of the man-made reservoir. The Australian crossed his arms as he shifted his weight, watching his companion kneel and begin to gather up the flowers delicately, sunlight making the gold of their hair radiant and their pale skin luminescent.

" _That Pharaoh is always so angry,"_ Carol breathed, making Harker hum. " _He must like the feeling, the terrible man."_

" _Well, he was raised to be a tyrant. Carol,"_ The Western man called, making blue eyes look up at him. " _I know you don't like him, and I don't blame you, but while we're here, try to make peace with him. The Pharaoh Menfuisu, while he is rather volatile, he provides us with a steady flow of food, water, shelter and safety."_

" _But Harker, we don't plan on staying here!"_

" _Maybe not, but while we are, let's not get our benefactor to turn against us before we're ready. Okay?"_ He reasoned, placing his hand on her drapes of gold, simple headset stinging his fingers.

His American companion frowned slightly, turning back to the floating lotuses. Harker continued to softly pet her hair, the girl making no move to stop him, instead tilting her head to encourage it. Harker paused, before looking over his shoulder, a faint frown coming to his face when he saw a crowd of Egyptian nobles watching them from the steps. He raised his hand and waved lazily at the General Minue, the man blinking in surprise, before responding with a smile.

" _What do you think is going on over with Menfuisu and Arisu?"_

The two Westerners turned to the raised voices of the royal siblings, the elder man raising an eyebrow when the teen Pharaoh pushed off his to-be wife.

" _I dunno. Arisu seems pretty distressed, though."_

()()()

"What is this? You want to cancel our marriage?" Arisu asked, showing her betrothed brother the papyrus of hieroglyphics.

"That is correct, sister, I have decided not to marry you." Menfuisu answered bluntly, no remorse in his voice.

In a moment of flustered panic, the royal priestess grasped her other before pressing a kiss to his lips, a muffled sound of surprise leaving him at the contact. Arisu gasped as she was harshly ripped off her brother, the younger teen recoiling before sending his gaze over to the side with an expression of distress.

"Please, sister, don't do this. They're watching!" Menfuisu pleaded, taking brisk steps away from his royal sibling.

"'They're'?" She repeated, following his line of sight to spy alabaster skin and precious hair.

Black eyes flew wide as the woman turned back to the king, a desperate pitch coming to her voice.

"Carol!? Is that Carol the reason you decided to cancel our marriage!?"

Menfuisu didn't turn his attention away from the two otherworldly people, a gentle, enraptured smile coming to his lips as he released a breath.

"Not only Carol..."

 _What!?_

"The _man?!_ You wish to love the man!?" Arisu raged, finally drawing her brother's attention.

"Yes." He answered, pure and simple, catching her off guard for less than a moment.

"But he is a man! And Carol a slave!" She cried, grasping hold of him desperately. "If you must, then take him as an attendant and her as a mistress!"

"No!" Menfuisu shouted, removing himself from her grasp and thumping a pillar with the side of his fist.

"No, I want them! I only want Carol and Harker! I've already fallen for them!"

Arisu watched in a muted stupor as her brother coiled in on himself, her heart squeezing as her mind became tainted with a hideous, blackened hate.

" _Oi!"_ Came a harshly accented call.

The priestess held back a choke as she witnessed her love all but jump to his feet at the shout, an expression of barely hidden glee coming to his face as the male of the pale folk stepped up to them.

"Hey, Pharaoh, you feeling any better?" Harker asked, his voice grating over her fine ears.

Menfuisu blinked at the question before nodding, his heart stumbling over itself when a large, warm hand came to press against his forehead.

"Hm..." The larger man hummed, before dropping the limb and replacing it with his own brow.

The Pharaoh froze in place, his eyes wide and focusing on the blurry image of pale person before him, a wave of heat flooding his system and pooling in his face. He felt the furrow come to the other man's expression against his own, a shaky breath leaving him as the Westerner straightened.

"Are you sure? You feel pretty warm, still." Harker asked, grasping the king's hand and feeling the erratic pulse.

Arisu suddenly released a harsh sound of frustrated anger, her dress and cape billowing dramatically as she stormed from the room, servants scrambling to clear her path. The two men looked after the woman, an expression of confusion coming to the white man's face.

"Can I ask what happened?" He questioned, releasing the tanned hand in his grasp.

"...I cancelled our marriage." Menfuisu answered, his limb lingering slightly in hopes of being reclaimed.

"Jesus! Isn't that two in less than a fortnight!?"

"Oh yeah," The teen king breathed, looking off to the side. "I did have another marriage before, didn't I?"

" _Dude!"_ Harker snapped in English, making the royal youth blink.

A long and heavy sigh escaped the Australian, his hand coming to card through golden strands as he closed his eyes, unbelieving. He shook his head before gently pushing the royal towards his lush bed, the smaller male looking up at him once he fell into a sit.

"Fine, whatever. Rest more, you're still unwell."

Menfuisu made to talk, but became quiet when the pale man sat himself down beside him, a hand firmly guiding him to lay across the sheets. The exasperated smile that painted the pale face made him malleable and pathetically obedient, completely accepting as the Westerner leant back on his hands.

"Um..."

Menfuisu head snapped to the quiet voice, eyes widening when he took in the image of the other piece of the pair, arm full of lotus and lilies. He watched in a daze as she gnawed her lower lip, before picking a lotus from her batch and holding it out to him. Slowly, as if to not scare her off, the tyrant reached and took it from her pale hands, too in bliss to notice the quick retraction afterwards.

Harker is being so gentle and smiling at him. Carol is offering him gifts.

" _I see you're trying."_

" _Well, you said it would be best and..."_ The Western girl muttered, glancing off.

Harker graced her softly with a twitch of the lips, before turning back to the dazed monarch.

"Go to sleep, little Pharaoh." He hummed.

The youth nodded dumbly, before relaxing into the bedding, flower clutched close. He gave a heavy breath, eyes sliding shut upon the white man's command.

Figures of alabaster and sunshine danced against the blackness of his mind, voices whispering in a hushed, celestial language as warm and cool touched his skin.

" _What a lovely little Pharaoh."_ Echoed a man's voice.

" _Our lovely Pharaoh."_ Cooed a woman's.


	4. Chapter 4: Royals and Removals

**Chapter 4: Royals and Removals**

It had been scratching at the back of his mind, a constant hassle on his consciousness and a weight on his moral. The screech he and Carol had heard just days ago was still impressed in his ears, it pinched at his curiosity, made him want to find the source.

Harker had never been good at withholding his impulses.

Pale feet made soft pats on the cooling stone floor as the Westerner walked through the hot air halls of the dungeon, most of his golden trinkets foregone in an effort of stealth as the fire flickered off the walls. Harker peered into each pitch cell, trying to find the source of the female wail he had heard.

While it wasn't so out of place in such an antagonistic building, the scream still stood out to him for some reason, feeling like it wasn't meant to be here- not that it was likely that anyone contained within actually did, spare perhaps a few.

Harker came to a stop when another set of stairs, tucked away in a corner, caught his eye. It was consumed by the dark, all of its torches unlit and cold to the touch. He bit his lip in thought, before descending carefully, his hands pressing on either side of the steep, narrow stairwell, arms forced to bend from lack of room. He huffed as the smell of decay reached his senses, making use of his cape to cover his nose and mouth as he pushed on, straining his ears to listen to each cell.

The sound of a strained, rasped breath reached him at last from the second last chamber, his head snapping to the gasp. His feet carried him over quickly, hand wrapping around a heated bar as he barely made out the frail outline of someone within.

"Hello?" He called, voice careful but reverberating.

There was silence, the person becoming clearer and obviously there, but frozen still, either out of fear or refusal.

"You're the only one down here. All the lamps have been out for days at least." Harker continued, "Can you tell me why?"

When there was still defiant quiet, Harker sighed, wondering just what he was doing. He was talking to someone on a cell, that's what. They probably didn't want to talk to a palace occupant, nor someone who's skin was so outlandish to them, he probably stood out like white on black down here.

"..A...Ashisu..."

Iced blue shot to the faint voice, the sound ringing bells as his mind formed the image of the royal priestess and princess.

"The princess? She put you down here, then..."

He really shouldn't be messing with this then. If that lady locked her away, it would be dangerous to step to her orders.

"Can I ask your name. Mine is Harker."

"Milanun."

Harker gave a noise of recognition, wondering just how he knew that name. Someone from this time, no doubt, but wh-

"Wait, Milanun, as in the Princess of Haiti?" He blurted, the response being a desperate shift within the cell. "But everyone's saying that you left already!"

"Ashis-" Her voice cracked and she coughed her throat raw.

Blue eyes widened and his previous caution was crushed under the weight of the heaving, Harker looked to the lock of the cell and found it painfully rusted, pieces crumbling off in red dust when it was jangled violently. He took a deep breath before throwing his weight back and wrenching the door open, metal giving out under the assault pitifully.

In the back of his mind, he made sure to check Sechi's lock for its condition as well, wondering if any other cells were in such a state or if it was only the ones left in the dark.

Harker quickly dropped down to the side of the strewn princess, finally able to see the state of her in the thick darkness, a faint, sickening squelching reaching his ears and making his skin crawl as his mind provided the reason. Shaking his head, he reached for her, tanned skin pale with illness, only to have Milanun flinch away and slap his hand weakly.

"Do-"

"Oh _shut up,_ I can't leave you here, you'll rot while still alive." He hissed, jumping to swear in English despite himself.

The young Haitian royal gave an audible grimace as she was forcibly picked up, her body small and hard with bone as she was tucked into Harker's chest, his cape coming to conceal her frail form as he stepped over a squirming puddle to find the exit of the winding darkness.

"Be quiet, we're going to the top level so there will be others around, they'll send you back to the dungeon if they see you."

Milanun narrowed her eyes at him weakly before looking at his shoulder stubbornly, Harker rolled his eyes at her attitude before turning the corner. The halls were empty with people bustling in the main part of the palace, leaving the back lines clear for the two foreigners to take a long and tedious trek to the dorms of the pale persons, the Westerner's breath and teeth catching whenever voices came too close for comfort.

" _So if I turn left here I'll be just across the wall from the servant quarters."_ He muttered, glancing around as he tried to bring up a blurry map of the extravagant structure.

His eyes widened when he heard the fast footfalls of a small group approach, quickly moving himself to be obscured by a large plant, drawing the cradled body closer as they dashed past. After a few moments of silence passed, Harker let out a breath, before peering into the shroud of his cape, blinking in surprise and chuckling when he saw the Haitian princess lost to sleep.

"Guess she really was exhausted." He hummed, pulling the cape higher before running across the intersection and finally seeing a memorable window, knowing just where he was within the walls.

It only took him a little while to get to Carol and his shared chamber, a quick glance around providing him with the understanding that the young American wasn't there. Harker quickly moved to untangle the lavish curtain and listened to it fall and block out the rest of the palace from the bedchamber. He grimaced as he laid the fragile royal on the bed, proper lighting of the afternoon showing the state of her being.

" _I'm gonna need to get you in a bath..."_ His hand brushed a wet sight, and he pulled her broken skirt a bit higher, showing her calf and making him gag.

Maggots. There were maggots eating away at a spoilt wound, a deep cut that rode up the side of her tanned calf, discoloured and drooling with infection.

" _Bath and medical attention."_ Harker finished, before glancing around.

"Excuse me!" Sticking his head out of the chamber, the Australian caught the attention of a passing chambermaid. "Am I allowed to have a bath now? I may have gotten myself a bit..."

The small woman looked over his dusty, dirt ridden form and nodded obediently, running off to warm the water and provide the scented washes.

The white man called a thanks after her before retreating back to the room and made a mental apology to Carol, pulling one of her simpler, night robes out from a chest of too pretty clothes before doing the same to some of his own. He bundles them up as to make them indistinguishable from one another before hearing the call of the maid.

"Your bath is ready, will you be needing assistance?" She asked quietly from behind the curtain.

The servants around the palace had come to learn of Harker's independence, as well as his hatred for being bathed. They had eventually submitted to the demands and now only came if asked by the head maid or Pharaoh.

"No, thank you." He responded, gathering up the Haitian.

The journey to the baths was much simpler, everyone thoroughly distracted by the arrival of ships and whatever they brought with them. Harker stepped into the room, grimacing at how open it was, before shaking it off and placing the things down.

" _Okay...Shit. How am I going to do this?"_ He asked nobody, looking at the prone form of the princess.

Milanun didn't respond as Harker cursed himself quietly, giving a small prayer for Priti's mercy and his own soul as he took a preparing breath and forced professionalism to the forefront, hoping that she wouldn't be too furious with him when she undoubtedly woke up. When he lowered her into the water, he did so carefully, keeping her chewed leg out of the baths to be treated separately by his own hand.

While she laid in the shallows, he worked to clean her long hair, muttering about how much effort it took to deal with such a length and how heavy it got when waterlogged. He carefully worked around her ears as he loosened the dirt and grime matting her scalp, the original, dusty brown coming to fruition by the fourth wash.

He huffed and let his hands dangle in the water, lily scented soap coming off as his arms ached from the effort, suddenly so thankful for the shortness of his own golden strands. Sighing, he shook his arms out before grabbing a cloth and soaked it in floral oils, running it over her skin in as best a balance of gingerly and thoroughly as he could manage. Warm water was poured over her form a last time, her skin cleared, and now all he had to do was move onto that wound.

The Australian grimaced when he saw flesh bulge for a moment, undulating as the critters squirmed within. He stuck his tongue out in distaste before grabbing a basin and bending her knee over it, calf across the diameter. He filled the basin with boiling water, intent on killing the creatures as soon as they were forced out.

" _Okay Hark, you did this with a possum, you can do this with a human...maybe."_

()()()

The Haitian royal curled into the bedding with a contented sigh, leaving Harker to dry his hair off by the window, seated on the sill as he watched the fire of a celebration burn in the castle plaza. He had been forgone in terms of invitation, but he didn't mind in the least, preferring to keep an eye on his new charge than be forced to drink luke-warm wine in a room of too handsy people.

The air as heavy with an impending storm, the humidity making his golden hair curl and his skin uncomfortable to live in. Blue looked over the horizon, wondering how soon the rain would fall and water the dry, sun beat ground.

He hummed as a desert breeze went through, the sandy scent different to the one that carried in his home, no salt of the sea. His teeth gritted as it came knocking, the damned thing he had been trying to hide since he was dumped here.

" _Oh fuck."_ Harker cursed, drawing both his feet up onto the sill as he covered his mouth with his hand, hiding the baring of his teeth as he fought the rising pressure in his chest. " _Calm down, not now."_

A deep, rattling breath went through him as he leant back against the thick stone, golden bands and rich jewels catching moonlight and dancing fire. He released a heavy exhale to the sky, flashing canines at the stars as he reined his temper, blinking away gathered heat. The displaced Westerner bit his lower lip before thunking the back of his head on the window frame, shutting out the rest of the ancient world as he focused on steadying his breath.

Harker grimaced before getting to his feet, finding no solace in silence, and began to move about the room, pacing as he tasted metal on his tongue, lip split under sharp teeth. The muscles in his back bundled with tension, shoulders hunched as his eyes flashed with the room's fire. Giving a gruff grunt of rising irritation, the Australian cast the sleeping Haitian a quick look before slipping from the room, intent to blow off some steam.

Lukewarm or not, some alcohol was better than none.

()()()

The keys jangled in her hand as Carol snuck into the dungeon, the sounds of drunken men muffled by thick walls. Her breath was shaky with worry as she quickly skipped steps and grabbed at the now familiar cell, the boy within sitting up instantly when he saw her.

"Carol!" He laughed, though his voice sounded hoarse from dryness.

"Sechi, everyone's celebrating and intoxicated, now's the time to get you out!"

"Where's Harker? Isn't he with you?" The slave boy asked as Carol worked the key into the lock and sprung him free.

"I haven't seen him all day, but we have to get him!" She answered, tossing the keys, no longer having for use for the pieces of metal.

"Do you know where he'll be?"

"Probably in our roo- _Harker!"_

Blue eyes caught the pale figure sitting on the edge of the palace wall, a cup of the Egyptian's wine in his hands as he frowned off at the horizon, leaning back on a grand pillar. He didn't seem to hear her call, only taking another drink, accepting a small platter of food from a servant girl.

Carol glanced around checking the area, before cupping small hands around her mouth and projecting her voice again, harsh wind tugging at the cloak she had donned to hide her lighter colouring.

" _Harker! Harker, over here!"_

Cobalt orbs snapped to her, finding the paleness amongst the dark grass easily. The raised eyebrow showed from a distance, before his eyes widened, seeing two pursuers.

" _Behind you!"_

Carol spun around as Neferdina grasped her by the biceps, grip unyielding as Sechi was forced to the ground by a male attendant.

"Hey, hey!" Harker boomed, quickly approaching the squabble as his cape billowed in the storm.

"Carol cannot leave the palace, if she does, the servants will be punished!" The head maid exclaimed, still holding the American girl in an iron hold.

The young girl paled further at the statement, her eyes widening as if she had just realised this. Harker frowned and quickly took her to him, but when reaching for Sechi, was denied.

"Go back to your room." Neferdina huffed severely, before turning to the man holding the slave. "And take that one to my son, Minue!"

"Sechi!"

"Carol, this one didn't work out." Harker breathed, the arm around the small waist keeping her from following the Egyptian as he was taken back.

"But-"

"Maybe next time, friend." He sighed, rubbing her arm comfortingly as she hid her face in her hands.

()()()

" _Where were you all day?"_ Carol asked after some time of silence, staring into her cup as Harker placed down a plate of fruits and meats, the celebrations happening not too far from them.

" _I was doing some,"_ He paused, thinking over his words. " _Exploring."_

" _Did you find anything interesting?"_ She hummed, taking a grape and shoving it past her teeth.

" _...No. Just more rooms."_

" _Oh."_

They sat quietly, the disappointment of a failed escape having lowered their moral quite substantially.

The people off to the side gazed at them in amazement, dazzled by the young Pharaoh's living treasures. They had been warned not to approach the pale pair, the Egyptian royal putting them off limits, never to be touched, only to be admired from a distance. Despite how their hands twitched and their palms burned to feel and examine, they stayed where they were permitted, surrounding the Pharaoh in reverence as they beholden from his side.

Golden hair matched the bands of the precious metal that hugged their skin, sweat from the heated desert wind making them looking like forms of druzy. Eyes of soft labradorite and harsh fluorite locked onto each other as a celestial language permeated the air in otherworldly tones. There was movement, finally, from the man of the two, his large, pale hand coming to be offered to the small, moonlit woman.

They both rose carefully before speaking to each other, faint whisps being carried over as they released unusual verses.

" _Do you know how to dance?"_ The man asked, drawing them to the centre of their space.

" _A bit of ballroom, yes."_

" _Do you want to? It may be a bit hard to find a rhythm to this music, but I think we can. Something familiar might do us good right now, do you think?"_

" _Yeah."_ The woman smiled.

The Pharaoh sat up when he noticed the attention of the party having turned, watching in awe as the golden set glided across the alabaster stone.

It was a simple waltz, children could do it, but that mattered to neither the Egyptians nor the Westerners. For the ancients, it was a spectacle, a twisting spontaneity that bewildered them. They never had seen such a dance before, unsure what had spurred it, but found no bother to know as they watched the two pale folk turn and play around each other, wondering at the forlorn faces. They looked sad, longing for something, and it pulled at their hearts, their half-lidded eyes seeing something else beyond their partner, remembering a different dance floor.

For the Westerners, they were only present in being, their bodies moving on memory as their minds drifted out and were cast back to those they couldn't reach. Harker's cape and Carol's dress billowed as they spun again, for less than a second, feeling different hands on their own. Oh, how they missed their family, their friends who waited in the far plains.

" _We'll get back to them."_ Harker breathed after he spun Carol again, her fingers pivoting in his palm.

" _As soon as we can."_ Carol continued, placing her hand on his broad shoulder, falling into step with her friend easily.

They looked to each other, before smiling, both frail and tired, but supportive. They were both lonely, but it was better to be lonely together.

Harker gave a low laugh before lifting the American off her feet, spinning fast enough to make her fair feet move out, a jocund shriek leaving the airborne teen. As their glee resounded within the walls of the palace plaza, lighting up the atmosphere, a man turned and gasped, drawing the attention of others.

"The star Sirius is appearing!"

The Pharaoh Menfuisu tore his eyes away from the druzy duo to view the beloved star of Egypt, onyx eyes widening when he saw ti flicker in time with the laughter of the pair.

Carol was the first to notice the shift, her blue cast over the crowd and catching on from the praising cries.

" _Harker, Sirius is shining!"_

" _Wait, as in Harry Potter?"_ The Australian blurted, scrunching his nose in confusion.

" _Harry Potter? I mean the star! When Sirius shines in June, it means that it's the season for the Nile to flood!"_ Carol explained, lowered to her feet.

The two glanced to the cheering party, Harker squinting at the horizon in interest, before Carol tugged at his hand, drawing his focus.

" _Quick, while they're distracted."_

They fled the plaza quickly, the American girl still keeping her grip on her Australian companion. The two made it out and near the entrance, before stalling when they heard a shout.

"Carol, Harker, where are you going?!"

Their eyes widened at each other when they heard the disruption, Menfuisu instantly catching on. A guard came up to them, spear in hand, and Harker gave a low breath before pulling his hand out of his friend's grip.

Harker was never good at withholding his impulses, and he hated that about himself.

" _Off you go."_ He huffed, pushing Carol before rounding on the guard and grappling the pole, two bulking forms fighting in strength.

" _Ha-"_

" _I swear to God if you waste this opportunity I will throw you into the Nile myself!"_ He snapped, pushing the guard away to deal with another.

The Western woman moved immediately, the roar triggering her to flee, her feet bounding across the stone as she heard an English curse and the call of the Pharaoh.

"Carol!"

Harker gave a harsh growl before knocking off the man that toppled him, scrambling to his feet and dodging hands. He bared his teeth at the approaching team, blinking as they froze, looking beyond him.

"Pharaoh! Carol!"

His blood ran cold as he whipped around, cobalt landing on the empty pier, both the Egyptian and Westerner gone from the edge. His breath caught in his throat and he dashed over, crowd splitting for him as he skidded to a stop at the end, just in time to see the two figures hit the water.

" _Fuck, you two!"_ He shouted at the inky, writhing surface of fast rising water.

Lessons, knowledge and experience rattled in his mind, years as a lifesaver providing aid and attempting to hold him on land until he had completed the required steps. Check the surroundings, what's the da- Fucking _dive!_

Harker tore trinkets and bangles off, uncaring as they clattered on the stone floor before launching himself into the writhing river, breaching the surface after taking a breath and immediately getting to work. He opened his eyes against the water and glared through the bleary darkness, catching a glimpse of gold and white.

He narrowed his eyes and kicked off, finding a current, as weak as it was, and hooking his arm under the floating body, securing them before pulling himself to the surface, moonlight flickering across the rippled surface.

The two men gasped as they breached, Menfuisu spitting out a spray of water as his nose ran and his ears rung. Harker breathed deeply and began to swim over to the river edge, already seeing the lights of people calling out to him and the Pharaoh. He coughed as he dropped the teen king on the sand, checking him over. Finding nothing truly worrying, the Australian shouted for his attention, Menfuisu finally looking away from the river to gaze up, wide eyed, at the man.

"Where's Carol? I couldn't find her!"

"She- She got ripped from me! Something took her!" The Pharaoh gasped, grasping the pale bicep. "It pried my fingers off! Carol's still in there with it!"

The Westerner cursed to high heaven before going back into the thrashing water, mentally berating himself for his brash actions.

Harker searched the water for hours, even when the water had settled and the sun had risen on the horizon. He laid out on his back, floating on the water surface as he stared at the cleared sky, clouds drifting past. His fingers were pruney, lips and fingers blue. The servants and General Minue had come to call him out of the Nile many times throughout the night, and had brought platters of fruit and meats for him, but he only waded to the shallows for minutes at most before returning.

Up in the palace, the air was tense, the Pharaoh had fallen into a restless slumber and nobles watched half of the golden set map out the river Nile in a fruitless effort. The people jumped suddenly, an ear splitting roar breaking the morning air.

Down in the Nile, the great, loved river of Egypt, Harker slammed his fist into the water, shivering from the cold of his skin and the heat of his rage.


	5. Chapter 5: Milanun and Menfuisu

**Chapter 5: Milanun and Menfuisu**

"I wouldn't do that." Harker warned, stepping into the room.

Milanun looked up from her calf with a startled fright, bandages half unravelled and showing the discolouration of spent material. She watched with bristling shoulders as the Westerner lowered a plate onto the empty side of the large bed, actions slow as if to not scare her.

"But I guess it's time to change the bandages anyway. Here, eat something." He huffed, running his hand through his sunshine hair before walking over to a steaming bowl in the corner of the room.

"What are you doing!?" The princess yelped when she saw pale hands turn red, the Australian man having dunked the limbs in up to his elbows.

"Sterilising myself." He answered simply, repeating the painful process after calming his buzzing nerve ends.

"Sterilising…?"

"Sorry, I'm cleaning myself so you don't get sick." The Aussie amended, drying off the angry red appendages as he walked over, a fresh roll of linen in hand.

The Haitian stiffened when Harker sat at her feet, pulling the tender limb from under the sheets. She gave a yelp and yanked herself out of his grip, eyes widening when a thunderbolt of pain flashed up her nerves, crying out when pale hands reclaimed her tanned calf.

"Calm down, lady! You shouldn't move it around like that, _Jesus!"_ Harker snapped, keeping the limb down easily as her upper body writhes in efforts of retreat.

"Cool it, I'm not going to hurt you." He huffed, smoothing his voice like he had been taught. "You've been through enough of that already. We're just gonna get you healed up enough to get you home without too much trouble."

"Haiti!" She gasped, sitting up despite Harker's tisk of annoyance. "What's happening with Haiti? I was meant to return days ago! A week at least!"

"I don't know, but I'll find out for you. From what I can tell, they're not happy with Egypt." The Australian answered, "Now could you please eat something, you've been out for two days, and gods know that last time you got something in your gut."

Milanun prepared to spit defiance at him, only to have a large grape shoved onto her tongue, the sweet juice flowing over her parched mouth. She struggled for a moment, before claiming the bowl and crunching through the bunches with desperation, her stomach craving its fill.

"Hey, hey," Harker breathed lowly, catching her hand and pausing the fast feeding. "Slow down, you'll make yourself crook. Drink some water."

The princess frowned but followed the order, sipping away at her goblet as she watched the white man peel off the final layer of cotton, her eyes widening when she saw thread pinching her skin.

"I boiled the living daylights out of some thread and a sharp stick for stitches. It's not all that great, but it does the job." He explained, looking it over, before reaching to a small box by his feet.

Milanun blinked when she saw a slab of green vegetation, perking when she recognised it as aloe vera. Harker carefully began painting the plant's gel onto her tender scarring, rubbing small circles into her ankle with his thumb absently as he did.

"This was a pretty bad wound, you had a twisted ankle too, so you must have gotten this when you sprained it."

"I tried to get out of the cell, but the floor was uneven and the room was dark. The stones in the corner were sharp, I nearly hit my head instead." She muttered into her cup, voice echoing off the shiny surface.

"I didn't expect Ashisu to do this sort of thing," Harker breathed after a moment, frowning at the slowly mending skin. "But I suppose, it shouldn't come as such a shock."

"That terrible woman, she wanted to marry the Pharaoh so badly that she trapped me in a cell! She's crazy!"

"We have a name for people like that, you know." Harker hummed, packing away the aloe vera and rewrapping her Milanun's leg.

The Aussie smiled as he faced her, seeing her expression of inquisition.

" _Fucking psychos."_

()()()

The first time Harker had seen someone drown was when he was sixteen. It had only been a week after Priti and he had completed their training, first aid certificate and many other qualifications under their belts.

There had been a storm forecast for that evening, but as usual, there were swimmers and surfers still out braving the choppy, cold waters. They had been called in as spares after three rescues that day, a group of teens who thought themselves bulletproof.

It had been a pretty bad day, but the waves were becoming increasingly dangerous, with sandbanks being beaten and surfers being dunked quite viciously. The senior guard decided that it had become too much of a hazard and called for those in the surf to swim ashore and return.

It didn't take long for a woman, wrapped in a towel and clutching the hand of her damp daughter. She was hysteric, eyes red and lips blue.

"I can't find my son, his father's gone to look for him but they haven't come back yet!"

They had searched for hours, helicopters called when the skies cleared, boats sent out, but there was nothing. Then, the next morning, they found them.

Harker and Priti had been setting up the red and yellow flags, but were bustled off quickly sent to follow after the fast-moving lifesavers. They kept up with them all the way to a rocky ledge, where the first clue to what had happened was a child's pool toy. Then a pair of goggles. Then the blue, soaked and cold body of the boy. Further along the cliff the father laid strewn across sharp juts of mineral, broken and still.

Priti hadn't been able to eat for days, and Harker himself couldn't get the glassy eyes of the kid out of his head, glazed over and unseeing, staring right at him from the water's edge. They could never quite get over their first drowning, never could forget the ones that came after either.

The Australian grit his teeth before pushing off the wall of his room, curtains billowing as he pushed them out of the way. His brow was set in a furrow as he walked fast, the sounds of an angered and distraught Pharaoh reaching him even through solid stone walls. His fists bundled as his cape fluttered, turning the final corner and coming to see the teen king strike a servant across the head with a vase breaking it in the process.

"Oi, Pharaoh, c'mere!" He snapped, grabbing Menfuisu by his bicep.

"Harker! How dare you handle-"

"No. Come." Harker ordered, having enough of the behaviour.

It had gone on for days, unchecked and uncared for. No one knew how to handle the king as he was normally, but now with trauma, guilt and so much more knocking at his mind, Menfuisu was a frantic mess.

Harker dragged the Pharaoh out of the lobby with him, lips pinched between teeth as he turned through passageways until they came out to a garden, the Nile glistening happily in the distance, rubbing salt in both their wounds. The Australian found a shaded spot before dumping the king on the ground, the Ancient giving a curse before he found himself pressed up against warmth.

Menfuisu stayed still, stunned into silence as he listened to the heartbeat bouncing into his ear, a hand laid on the black locks of his head. The embrace was awkward, haphazard and slightly uncomfortable, their position not thought out well at all…

But it was exactly what he needed.

The king looked up after a moment, coal eyes widening when he saw orbs of sky staring back down at his with heart-wrenching softness, shades of oceans and horizons melding in two small but expansive pools, riddled with emotion. Lashes of gold and wheat framed those untouchable jewels, brushing over pearly skin and white druzy sweat. Warm hands that left scalding trails rubbed along his back, slowly relaxing the Pharaoh, petal pink lips slowly melding into a small smile, encouraging.

"I lost her." He said finally, quiet and weak.

"No, no you didn't. You did everything you could." Harker breathed, ethereal lilts to his words. "You tried to save her, that's more than enough."

Alabaster hands, calloused and smooth just like the mineral, rubbed along the sun-tanned skin of the Egyptian king, collecting dust, sweat and frustration.

"We'll find her, don't you worry." He smiled, making the Ancient's heart stutter.

"I hope so. I pray every chance I get to both Hapi and Ra." The king sighed, dropping his head back down onto the white chest, listening to the steady rhythm.

"Can we just stay like this for a little while? Please?"

Harker shifted, making him frown, but only leaned back against the trunk of a desert tree, getting himself comfortable.

"Sure, mate. Take all the time you need."

()()()

Harker glared out the window, seated on the still as he bared his teeth at the gleaming surface of the Nile river, boats sailing up and down like a languid highway. It had been days since Carol had gone under, and the palace had been in chaos. The Pharaoh had been snapping at people left and right despite the talk, and Harker himself had been at his wit's end, swum to exhaustion and forcingly sent to his room by the General.

"Harker?"

Blue snapped to the call, Milanun flinching under the cobalt glare.

"Yes, Milanun?" He asked after a few calming seconds.

"May I ask, what's the news of the Haitians?" She breathed, carefully nibbling on a plump fruit.

The Haitian princess's health had reached its original state now, her hair regaining its sheen and her skin glowing with youth. She was wearing another of Carol's nightgowns, free of any jewels or finery, spare the earrings and bangles she refused to remove. Her eyes had gained their light and the bag under them had faded, a rosy tint returning to her cheeks as she filled out anew with regular feeding.

"They apparently are gearing for war, your disappearance was unexpected and has rippled. We'll need to get cracking on getting you across the desert, undetected, as soon as possible." He responded, shaking his head and getting to his feet.

The Australian walked over to the bedside and pulled the blankets off the royal woman, checking the wrapping on her calf. He sat himself down and pulled the leg onto his lap, the princess no longer thrashing in his hold as she had first done.

"Do you feel any discomfort? Not just from here, anywhere else too. Any nausea or illness?" He asked, unwrapping the bandages and peering into the healing flesh, the wound coming together nicely.

"No, it's fine." Milanun hummed, watching him rebind her leg with careful hands.

"Good, the sooner this is ready, the safer you'll be." Harker murmured gently, placing a warm hand on the wrappings, before tucking it under the sheets.

He sighed as he stretched, coming to lean on the window sill and see the setting sun, another day without a find. Teeth clamped down on his lower lip as he closed his eyes, a long breath coming to settle himself.

"Harker, you're tired." The Haitian spoke gently, seeing the frailty of his condition. "You need to sleep."

"Carol's missing." He huffed, gripping the stone tightly.

"And that disgusting Pharaoh has got men and boats combing the whole of the Egyptian Nile for her, you won't be able to find her any faster than they would." She reasoned swiftly, before softening her expression when she saw worn labradorite turned on her.

The royal girl picked the platter off her lap and placed it on a side table before she shuffled further into the lavish bedding, pulling the corner of the sheets off as an invitation to the Westerner.

"Come, sleep until morning, then you can continue to worry after your Carol when you wake."

Her curly hair swayed as she made more room, slowly luring the man back to the bedside with a comforting and open smile.

As usual, Harker hesitated climbing into bed with her, looking ready to just steal a pillow and sleep on the window sill as he usually did with Carol, but her stare made him buckle and trudge over, a light laugh escaping the princess as he made a show of struggling into the sheets after dumping the gold, jewels and cape. The Westerner stiffened as arms came and bundled him close, blue eyes wide in surprise as a chest was directed in front of him.

Now, Harker wasn't expecting this. Yes, he had been forced to share a bed with the Haitian, but they had made a habit of segregating themselves, an unspoken no-man's land cracking down the middle of the linen and cotton.

"Uh...Milanun?" He choked after a moment.

"Yes, Harker?" She hummed, playing with strands of precious metal locks.

"What're you doing?"

"Calming you. Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"Well, not exactly, it's just-"

"Go to sleep, Harker. You've drained yourself."

The Australian opened his mouth to reject the statement, but a yawn leaked out instead, making the Haitian laugh a bit, gently carding her fingers through his hair.

"Fine, you win this one, princess." He muttered, before settling, though the red hue from being less than an inch away from a female's bust remained.

As cobalt eyes closed, brown eyes of desert sand continued to look down on him, the dainty smile stretching as Milanun hugged the Western man close. It as true that she feared the strange man at first, her pain further fueling the unjustified hate she felt for him, but as he lulled, soothed and nurtured her back to her former health and glory, she couldn't deny the slow growing tingles his hands left, nor the flutter-stumble of her heart when he caught her eye.

Oh, she had thought she knew what love was when she laid eyes on that king, his face and words quick to make her heart flutter and cheeks heat, but the reality of the situation had hit her like a wall. Everything that heartless man had done and said was as choreographed as the palace dancers, he had no desire for her heart, nor her affection. All The Pharaoh wanted was Haiti, and, perhaps, her body as a bonus. She didn't love that man, never did from what she understands now. She was enamoured by him, his regal position and appearance enthralling her in her innocence, promises of marriage and that happily ever after mutilating her mind.

Now...Now she knew what that fabled emotion was. The 'strongest force', that pure, sweet elixir that thrummed through her veins in molten sighs. The desire to always be near, to always see, to have them see you in their heart as you see them. The unbridaled horse kick to the heart whenever they smile at you or touch you. Harker. Harker was her Love, the man she wanted to welcome home every time. The only man she would let touch her like this, the only man she would let touch her, period.

But she had seen it, she had seen the way that Egyptian Pharaoh looked at Harker. The taint in his eyes, the sulphur of his hands, they were all there to try and hurt white skin, to blemish and blight alabaster and starlight. The way Harker had embraced the king in the gardens showed he was oblivious to this intent, and it made Milanun's heart ache for her gentle carer, how he showed too much sympathy, even to those who did not deserve it.

She would return to Haiti, yes, return home to her brother, mother, father, people- and she would bring Harker with her. He would be safe from the Pharaoh in her kingdom, safe from those who desired to soil and desecrate his celestial self. She would keep him close and warm, provide for him what those like the women Carol and Isis couldn't. She'd love him. Just like she was falling into the habit of now.

"Sleep, Harker, sleep. Your princess will keep you warm tonight."


	6. Chapter 6: Coming Of Carol

**Chapter 6: Home Of Harker, Coming Of Carol**

Harker muttered to himself absently as he scratched lines onto a piece of papyrus with a shard of coal, fingers tarnished black. Beside him was a small bowl of many other scraps of coal, papers piling up, both used and not. It was late night and there were only the fires of the castle to illuminate the white man's work, a hush falling over the town as even the moon had abandoned the sky for its day of rest.

"Harker?" Milanun called gently, stirred awake by the cold of the bed. "What are you doing all the way over there?"

The Australian didn't answer, too consumed by his task. The Haitian princess rubbed her eyes before swinging her feet off the edge of the bed, standing and padding softly over to the other. She kneeled behind him and carefully draped her arms over his pale shoulders, peering over to see just what he was doing.

"What's that?" Milanun asked.

This called Harker's attention, the warm skin over his night chilled alabaster a startling contrast to awaken his senses. He blinked brilliant labradorite before calming as the familiar scented oils reached his nose, Milanun registering in his mind.

"I'm drawing places from my home." He answered gently, the atmosphere a soft one that demanded soothing notes.

Fingers of pearl grazed over amateur depictions of outlandish and impossible architecture, feats of familiar engineering scratched in coal.

"I'm worried that I'll forget what my home looks like, so I'll put it down on paper before that happens." Harker admitted, thumbing the curve of a wiry structure.

Milanun's heart cracked at the soft weakness in her saviour's voice, her arms coming to hold him closer to her chest in a show of comfort. Earthy brown eyes turned on the sheets of papyrus scattered about their floor, taking in the great scapes of another land, almost nothing familiar to her Haitian heart.

"We can find your home." She whispered, hugging her companion. "Surely we can, my brother can give us a boat if need be."

"No…" Harker sighed, closing his eyes from the world. "No, we can't Milanun. My home isn't somewhere we can reach by foot, boat, or even sky."

By sky? Harker's home was in a place even the overarching blue of the horizon could not reach? Could Ra not find it in his endless travels?

Leaning forwards, the princess regarded the works, her head tilting in interest as she watched lines craft themselves into memories and places of untouchables.

"What is that?" She asked, touching the great semicircle of architecture.

"That's the Sydney Harbour Bridge." He responded, following her finger. "It's next to the Opera House."

With those words, the Westerner brought her attention to another piece of paper, a strange building with large, sail-like structures.

"Which is just next to Lunar Park!"

She was then showed a huge being who's mouth was contorted into a macabre smile, the shaky silhouettes of people swarming to enter it's gaping maw.

"That looks like some kind of demon!" Milanun blurted, getting a hearty laugh out of her beloved.

"Haha, I can see that!" He snorted, words throaty with humour.

The Haitian princess cuddled unto the alabaster plains of the Westerner's back as he built her a map of his home, sketching out scenery of vast deserts and endless beaches, tall mountains thick with fog and greenery, mythological animals of twisted appearance and biology.

As he spoke, the tension in his shoulders seeped away, tone growing lighter in joy and humour, nostalgia thick in his voice as he drew the shaky figures of three women and a man.

"That's Priti, my friend, her mum, this is my mum and this is my dad." He explained, tapping each person.

Milanun parted her lips as she took in the people, before pausing.

"Why haven't you drawn your father's face?" She asked, glancing at the pale being before her.

She watched petal lips press together in a moment of tension, before he reached out, thumb gently caressing the stained papyrus. Then he pushed, and smudged the thick layer of coal.

"I never knew the man." Harker hummed absently. "But it doesn't matter, my mum did a good job on her own, if I do say so myself."

Milanun smiled at his words, hearing his devotion to his mother. She tightened her hold on his frame and rested her brow on his shoulder, the man reaching up to brush her tanned cheek in a friendly manner.

"Come," She hummed, "I think it's time we go to bed."

"Okay." He nodded, allowing the woman to pull him from the floor

()()()

The desert sun beat down on pale skin as the Westerner sank sharp shards of pearl into red fruits, sweet nectar dripping from his chin as he tried to avoid being forcefully fed by the Pharaoh.

" _Dude, jeez,_ I can feed myself!" He exclaimed, dodging the dark hands of the young king.

"You need to eat more!" Menfuisu snapped, trying to reach for druzy sweat skin.

"I'm not hungry!" The Australian stressed, grabbing the tanned wrists and forcing them away from him, their skins sticky.

The two grappled for moments, the servants and nobles who surrounded their little island of untouchability and transcendence, looking on in confusion and worry. Harker used his larger form to push the king back before yelping as he toppled atop the young Ancient.

" _Fuckin- Shit, you right?"_ Harker spluttered in heavily accented English, getting to his hands and pulling himself off of Menfuisu, hovering over him carefully.

The Pharaoh gazed up at glistening druzy sweat that framed pools of liquid sky, strands of precious metal catching sunshine and threatening to blind his dark eyes with the brilliance of the celestial. The otherworldly lilts that fell from his tongue hypnotized his ears and doused his senses in a kind of breeze that engulfed him undeniably.

"Ah, sorry, are you okay?" He corrected quickly, going back to allow the Pharaoh up.

"Yes, I'm fine." Menfuisu uttered, an almost distracted quality to his voice.

Harker raised an eyebrow at him, before shaking his head and taking the fruit from the king's hand, making a show of biting into it to stop the pestering.

"How is the search for Carol?" He asked the group before them, derailing the heavy silence.

"Why has nobody found her!?" Menfuisu snapped, getting back to his usual habits.

"The Nile is large my Pharaoh, it is hard to recover a single girl from its grasp."

"But we're trying, we'll find her soon, we swear to you."

The explanations and pleas fell on deaf ears as the Ancient shattered a cup against the floor, startling the room and making the Australian recoil. In an instant, labradorite eyes snapped up, drawing attention to the creature.

"Harker?" Minue asked, watching as he stood from the lush chair and made his way over to the edge of the pillared palace.

"Harker, who said you coul-"

"Hush." Was the harsh silencer, pearl hands coming to raise and quiet the Pharaoh. "Can't you hear that?"

The nobles looked to each other in confusion, straining their ears to try and catch even a wisp of what the figure of alabaster was speaking, only to come short.

"...I have no time for this." Menfuisu hissed finally, frustration boiling in his belly as he turned on his heel and stormed from the room. "Find me when you find Carol, and no sooner!"

General Minue watched after the kind helplessly, knowing that the rise in temper was from the unattainability of the Golden Set, their habits strange and their behaviours extraordinary.

"General," The call dragged him from his musing and he turned to face the approaching Westerner. They were alone now, with everyone else having filtered out of the room. "Could I bother you with a request?"

"Depends on what it is." He responded, with no little amount of friendly humour.

Harker seemed to appreciate the tone, his tension seeping into a friendly smile.

"If you could, try and search the Western shore of the Nile- or just try and keep closer to that side when you sail."

Dark eyes blinked when the words came, confusion surfacing when he saw the Australian glance over his shoulder again, as if he were hearing the noise again.

"If you don't mind answering my question in return."

Sky blue, bright with caution struck him in a moment, their gazes locked as petal lips curled in a deceptively kind manner.

"Depends on what it is."

The General laughed lightly at that, before he matched the smile.

"What are you hearing? I won't deny, I cannot quite make it out."

The Westerner relaxed at the question, loosening his muscles and closing his eyes as he inhaled deeply. When blue were cracked open again, they were cast to the side, gazing off in the same direction as before.

"I think...I think I'm hearing Carol."

()()()

Harker murmured to himself as the light of the morning sun abused his eyes, waking him from his sleep. He groaned and bowed to smother his face into the dusty brown hair of the Haitian who curled in his arms and buried her nose in his pale clavicle. The two tightened their hold on each other as they mutually awoke the other, moans of aggravation sounding quietly as they blinked blearily in the new dawn.

Milanun smiled as she watched the other slowly rouse himself, an adamant refusal obvious as he tried to hide from the light in her chest, strong arms wrapping around her with sleepy strength.

"Harker." She cooed, running her hand along his bicep. "You need to wake up."

" _No_." He whined, making her head swim with glee as he cuddled into her.

"Oh, come now, prince." Milanun breathed quietly, "You need to go, or someone will come for you instead."

Harker groaned before rolling onto his back, allowing for the Haitian to see the plains of his chest that glistened with a nighttime of sweat. She reached over and draped her arm over him as she rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying the contrasts of their shades.

Milanun gasped when the Australian sat up suddenly, his gaze snapping around the room in a chaotic focus.

"Where is that coming from?" He breathed, lunging from the bed to stand at the window and strain his ears.

"Harker, sir!" A little servant called into the room, making the two turn quickly and Milanun to duck under the sheets. "General Minue found 'er! He found the golden girl!"

"They've found Carol?" Harker asked, stepping forwards.

"Yes! Yes! She's in the lobby!"

Blue eyes widened before Harker launched himself from the window and took off into the palace, uncaring of how the hot stone abused his bare feet as he scrambled into the lobby, people making way for the excitable celestial.

" _Carol!?"_

The Nile river contained in two orbs turned on him, glistening with tears of panic before they widened with familiarity.

" _Harker!"_

The Australian paid no mind to the shout that left the Pharaoh as he grabbed the younger Westerner out of his hands and lifted her into the air, laughs of relief escaping him before he wrapped her up in the tightest hug, her own smaller arms coming to coil around him as well.

" _Shit mate, I thought you were dead for sure!"_ He exclaimed, drawing her back to check over her for damage, only to find her wet from the Nile. " _You were gone for ten days!"_

" _Ten days? Was it really that long?"_ The American whispered, still keeping her hold on the man of similar colouring.

" _Yes, you little galah! You had me sick with worry!"_

Harker became quiet after he laughed that, pausing as he took in her clothes. He took a step back and regarded her fully without the lense of euphoria, finally seeing how badly she stood out amongst the scene.

"You were called home." He stated, the ancient tongue falling from him and making the room ripple with question.

" _Yes!"_ She perked, closing their gap, pleated skirt shifting. " _Harker, I got home somehow! Escape to our home is a possibility!"_

" _How? Why can't you remember how?!"_

" _It all happened too fast, and I was unconscious for most of it, but it can happen! The Nile, the Nile is important to us!"_

" _But Carol,"_ He breathed, brow pinching in stress. " _The Nile isn't how I came here. There is no Nile in Australia."_

The happiness that once painted her expression tapered at his words, and the noise of the room finally reached them, the plague of confusion a contagious one for the nobles and servants who watched their broken exchange.

" _...I'm sorry."_ She muttered, gathering her hands in front of her as she lowered her gaze. " _I would have taken you with me. You'd at least be safer where I was."_

Harker pinched his eyes shut before giving a harsh exhale, his teeth coming to bare as he caped his emotions quickly, knowing it best not to make any more of an unnecessary scene. Instead, he opened his arms to the Western girl, and she wasted no time in collecting herself in them, her face pressed to his clavicle as his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

" _I'm glad your safe, Carol."_ He muttered into her ear.

" _You too, Hark."_

The nobles watched on as the two ethereal beings embraced one another in the light of the new dawn, the sun making their skin shine like white sandstone and their hair a halo of gold. Harker let the young celestial cuddle into his alabaster flesh as he reached for the edges of the white cape that clasped his shoulder, using it to engulf their forms like wings and protect their sacramental selves from lower eyes. Carol sighed a quiet note as she wrapped her arms around his golden drizzled neck, her skin blending just a shade lighter than the man's as they held each other in an impermeable suspension from the rest of the room.

"And so, the Golden Set has been completed again, my Pharaoh." Minue hummed to the king who gazed at the two in a bitter devotion.

"As it should be."


	7. Chapter 7: Sephora's Sanctuary

**Chapter 7: Sephora's Sanctuary**

Milanun smiled softly as she traced settled coal on papyrus, looking over the drawings that Harker had created as an ode to his home, little scenes of his years crafted for her eyes to try and comprehend the man she held so dearly in her heart. Her fingertips ghosted over the image of a little home tucked away in between tall trees that loomed with thin, hanging leaves and peeling bark, the figure of a woman waving from a second-storey window.

The Haitian princess gave a quiet sigh and leant back into the plush pillows of their bed, the scent of desert sands and lily oils wafting in the air as she moved onto the next picture, smiling all the way as she gazed at mountain ranges with three spires of sister stone.

"Milanun."

She looked up with a burst of joy as Harker walked back into the room, before stalling her exclamation of pleasure, her expression turning perplexed as he moved towards her quickly.

"We need to move you from here. Carol has come back, and while I trust her well, she is not the best at keeping secrets." He explained, taking her by the bicep and pulling the woman from the bed.

"Harker, prince, wait-" She gasped, scrambling to keep a hold on the papyrus.

The Australian didn't register the address, keeping his attention on the halls as he held her close to his chest, keeping her obscured as well as he could.

"I don't know where you can hide." He grit out, before looking down at the princess, grasping the other bicep and lowering himself. "Milanun, while you were here as a guest, did you find any place that could be used? Where did you stay? Your chambers?"

"I..."

The Haitian didn't want to be separated from the man, she didn't know why he had to remove her from the room they had claimed for so long, had slept together in comfort within. Her hands reached out and clutched Harker's cape in anxiety, brilliant blue softening when he saw her tension.

"Milanun, we have to hide you. Do you have any idea where we can?"

"No." She denied, shaking her head softly, curls of sandy brown falling around her face.

The Westerner gave a sharp English swear before retreating back to their room, his thumb coming to be clamped between teeth as he tried to think.

"Harker, why does that girl's return require me to leave?" The woman asked softly, reaching for the man's arms as she floated up to stand before him. "Does she frequent this room?"

Harker sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands, but relaxed as the royal continued to gently rub his arms, coaxing him steady as she gazed up at him with patience. The sky, held within two pools, turned on her after a moment of stress, the man grumbling as he let her shuffle closer until their warmth radiated close.

"Carol and I both sleep here. This is our shared appointed room." He admitted, looking to the bed.

Milanun felt her mind and heart lurch to a halt. She stared blankly up at the man as he grit his teeth over his thoughts, not realising the state he had put her in.

"You...You and that girl have shared a be-"

"No! Wait, what?" Harker spluttered, turning back to her quickly, a red gue coming to his pale cheeks. "Well, yes, but only rarely. I usually sleep by the window."

A breath left her, loud and obvious enough to make the Australian blink in confusion, the woman stepping forwards until she could lay her head on a pale chest, her arms curling around the alabaster form as she clung to him softly, still feeling thrums of jealousy and pain in her bosom. Slowly, muscle-thick limbs came up and gently held her as well, their movement hesitant as if unsure and confused, but willing to offer comfort nonetheless.

"What's wrong with you?" He asked warmly, rubbing a looping circle into Milanun's shoulder affectionately.

"Just...Just tired." She lied harmlessly, curling into the embrace more as her heart ached for him. "Do I really have to leave you?"

Harker made a noise of apology as he continued to keep her close, wondering what had put her into such a state, before softly speaking again.

"I can't leave Carol alone at night with a clear conscious, Milanun. This place is dangerous for her. People may try to harm her if she is alone or she may do something dumb." He sighed, feeling her grip tighten.

"But isn't it dangerous for me too?!"

Cast aside.

"Yes! That's why we have to _hide_ you! Somewhere that I can get to you if need be, but away from others!"

Cast aside again.

"There's nowhere in this palace like that!"

Cast aside for Carol, again.

"Do you want to just send me back to the dungeon you found me in?!"

Milanun bit her lip when there was silence, azure eyes wide in shock as they stared down at her mutely. Her hands were bundled in the man's cape in an effort to keep him near her even as they had parted for their match of raised voices, and she could feel the scalding warmth of his hands on her shoulders still.

She knew that every man had a limit, had seen her father being his hand down across the cheek of her mother in the privacy of their realm, had seen common men take their grievances out on the soft forms of women. Milanun knew what would await her should she try her luck, but perhaps she had forgotten herself in the company of the Westerner, for he seemed too kind.

Remembering her mother's advice to keep her teeth grit when the time came, she closed her eyes tight when alabaster moved.

Milanun gasped quietly as she was snapped up off the floor, her feet dangling in free suspension as she was pinned to a warm chest, arms circling her in an all-consuming sphere of affection. She blinked brown eyes, before blinking again and looking up at hard cobalt, wincing when they struck her with a look.

"That is the last place you are ever _fucking_ going, understood?" He growled, getting a quick nod from the princess.

"Good." Harker gritted, before walking over to the bed, still carrying the baffled woman as he laid her out.

Milanun could only stare as the man crawled on after her and pulled her into his chest, the royal's head dropping into his shoulder as he muttered strange words into her ear.

"You," She breathed after a moment, drawing the other's attention. "You didn't strike me."

His brows knit together in a show of confusion as he blinked down at her, their faces close, only inches away.

"Why the bloody hell would I hit you?"

"Because…" She started, trailing off.

"That's not an answer, princess." He sighed, before tucking his hand under his head and tsking loudly. "And frankly, there shouldn't be one."

The woman parted her lips quietly, wondering just what this man was trying to get at.

"Look, people shouldn't hit people unless it's for a _damn fucking_ good reason." He stated softly, "That goes for you too, which means I'm not going to hit you, and everyone else shouldn't either."

Brown orbs shone oddly, wondering if her mother and maids had been wrong.

"Milanun," Harker started, sitting up and sticking her with a look of strength and determination. "If anyone so much as looks at you wrong, you make everyone aware of it."

"But this is normal-"

"Well, it shouldn't bloody be!" He snapped, before flopping back down and letting her find a comfortable position upon him. "God damn it."

"You are...an interesting person, Harker." She hummed, placing her jaw upon her hands which rested upon his chest.

"Milanun, just-"

"I understand, prince." The Haitian royal hushed, seeing his frustration.

Hands came up and settled on the small of her back and in between her shoulder blades as a long groan of annoyance left the man.

"Be careful, okay? You make me worry for you sometimes." He sighed, closing his eyes and letting his head fall back.

"I'll try, but you'll keep me safe, won't you? As you have been, all this time." She cooed, watching his face warmly.

"Of course, friend." The Australian smiled, gently grazing her soft cheek with his fingertips. "Now, you have only half successfully distracted me from the issue at hand."

Milanun groaned as her prince sat up, making her slide down his front until her cheek rested on his stomach.

"Lazy princess." He snorted, pinching her nose.

The Haitian royal squealed instinctively and writhed her way out of the man's grasp, rubbing her face with a huff as he got up off their bed. She watched as he took his chin in his fingers and stood in thought, humming to himself as he returned to the original subject.

"I could hide in here still?" She offered, glancing around. "There are plenty of places that no one would look."

"What, like under the tarp? You'd overheat in an instant, mate." Harker sniffed, hating how his mind kept returning to the cells as the most likely place of refuge.

Refuge…

"Sephora."

"What?" Milanun uttered, watching as the white skinned man dashed to the side of the room and began gathering cloths of common look.

"Sephora was the woman who took Carol and I in when we first arrived here. I'd hate to inconvenience her again, but I think she'd be our best hope-"

Halfway through his thought, the Australian stopped, pausing the bustle of his motions a realisation dawned through him. He thinned his lips and slowly sat on the edge of the bed, brow furrowed as he went over his plan again.

Sechi, her son, was imprisoned because of them. The likelihood of the woman taking in another liability while she couldn't have her own son back was...incredibly low, even with her seemingly endless hospitality and generosity.

"I...I don't know." He breathed, finger coming to his lips for a moment, before hands pressed to his shoulders.

Harker looked up as Milanun crawled over and curled her arms around him from behind, the dainty, elegant movement ending with her cheek pressed to his shoulder as she tried to settle his stress. A thrill streamed through her as a warm hand came and covered hers gingerly, her sun-tanned cheeks becoming a reddened shade as she smiled against alabaster skin.

"We can try," She breathed, gracefully cupping the man's jaw and bringing his face to hers. "And if it falls through, we must then bargain with that girl's loyalty."

"It's not her loyalty, Milanun, she means well." Harker sighed, gently pushing off her hands. "Carol just has a hard time of keeping things contained, her thoughts go rapid fire when she's panicked."

The princess fought the frown that tried to come to her face and instead dropped her chin of his shoulder, inhaling a strange scent that was nearly the Egyptian eucalyptus, but not quite at the same time, a smoky flourish to it, mixed with a kind of sea salt. She let those perfumes hit her senses and relax her expression, cuddling into the being of alabaster.

"I guess," He started, getting to his feet. "We begin with a visit to Sephora."

"How do we plan on getting there?" She asked, watching as he handed over common clothes. "I understood that the rotten Pharaoh had you contained."

"You'd be surprised, Milanun." Harker hummed, fixing his appearance, running pale fingers through golden hair. "Asking permission can go a long way."

()()()

Menfuisu was strewn across his lavish lounge with an air of permeating satisfaction and glee, the return of his Carol to the palace walls lifting his mood and making him easy to please today celebration planned for tonight. A smile sat on his face as he fingered at a bowl of wheat grains, feeling them fall between his fingers, the golden colour lacklustre compared to his Set, but reminiscent of them nonetheless.

" _Oi_ , Pharaoh!"

The young king looked up at the call before beaming, the sight of the druzy male approaching him bringing his heart to a new high.

"Harker, where have you been?" He asked, watching servants scatter to create a path for the man.

His breath caught as the Australian continued forwards and dropped his body beside the king on his lounge, laying on his stomach as he curled his lips in an open manner. The radiance of the smile made dark eyes want to water, but his body was paralysed by the closeness, warmth emanating off of pearly skin and onto his earth tone.

"I've been in bed all day. It's too bloody hot to do anything." Harker huffed, perching his cheek on his palm. "But, hey, I got something to ask of you."

"Anything!" He found himself declaring, before biting his tongue afterwards, not wanting to seem too eager, a faint hue coming to his face as the celestial man laughed.

"But before I do, how're your symptoms doing? Has everything cleared up?"

"Yes," The Pharaoh nodded, trying to contain himself as hands bushed his calf, checking over the pin-prick bite marks left by the cobra. "Everything's one now, I've been doing just fine."

"Great!" Harker declared, sitting up and crossing his legs. "Now, about my request. Would you mind if I went out to the village today?"

"What? Why?" Menfuisu asked, narrowing his eyes instantly, remembering all of the attempts the pale folk had made to abandon him.

"I'm not going to run off this time!" Harker, defended, bringing his hands up to calm the king. "I just left something of mine down near there."

"What could you have left?" Minue asked, walking in onto the scene, another man on his wing.

"Hello, General, who is your friend?" The Australian hummed, eyeing the foreign looking elder.

"Ah, this is Imphotop, a trusted advisor of the royal family." The General introduced, allowing the man to step forward with a friendly smile.

"I have heard a lot about you, Harker. You and Carol are quite the interesting folk." Imphotop chuckled, his beard jumping with the laughter.

"Huh, _cool_ I guess. We're not all that interesting, really." He shrugged, getting a humoured huff from the advisor who thought him 'modest'.

"This thing you've left." Minue called back, drawing the attention once again to the main topic. "What is it, exactly?"

"My _surfboard._ " Harker answered, a bit too simply.

"S-surph-" Imphotop tried, brow furrowed in confusion.

"Ah, sorry, um- You- Well, I use it to ride waves and such." He amended quickly, trying to break down the word. "You know, on water."

"A boat?" Menfuisu supplied unsurely.

"Uh...Yeah, I guess, to an extent." The Australian gave, shrugging his shoulders. "It doesn't really look like the ones you're used to I don't think, but hey."

He turned to the king and leant forwards slightly, missing the widening of eyes and stilling of breath. Dark fists clenching around goblets of warm wine and the tips of sun-tanned ears growing red hued.

"So, like, can I go or..."

"Fine," The young Pharaoh choked out, eyes falling to how the golden collar hung from a column of alabaster, dotted with druzy sweat. "But you must take someone with you."

"Perfect," Harker grinned, everyone missing how predatory the flashing of teeth was, blinded by sun rays. "I've got just the person in mind."

Just as the Westerner went to stand, Menfuisu sat up and grasped his wrist in a halting motion, making the men in the room blink in surprise. The young king thinned his lips, a dryness coming to his mouth when he saw the contrast of their skins, loving the juxtaposition of their composition.

"Before you leave, Harker," He managed out, snapping back to attention. "Could you perhaps check me over again? Just to make sure all of the poison's gone."

Fluorite looked down at onyx stone for a moment, before a smile came to the pale face, resistance on their wrists relaxing as the distance was closed with a friendly laugh.

"Sure thing, mate. Lay down, yeah?"

Menfuisu swallowed audibly as his fringe was pushed out of the way and Harker loomed over him, their foreheads coming to press together, breath fanning his dark face as the man felt his temperature, humming quietly before pulling off. Calloused hands, warm with body and desert heat, came and rested on the king's neck, petal pink lips parting as they mutedly counted the beats before pulling into a slight frown, which then melded into a small smile.

"You're pulse is a bit fast, but that seems to be a constant with you." Harker sighed, drawing himself away. "Perhaps I should get Carol to test you soon, we may come up with different readings."

"Maybe." Menfuisu agreed, taking a smothering sip of wine.

"Other than that, you're good to go. You can get dumped with your work again." The Australian snickered, before pausing. "Wait, where is Carol, exactly?"

"She's getting changed and bathing." Minue answered, saving the king from stumbling his words.

"Ah, makes sense. Hey, could you keep a hold of her clothes? They're from home. It'll make her feel better."

"Of course."

"You said before," Imphotop started, making people glace to him. "That she went home while she disappeared into the Nile. What did you mean by that?"

Harker's lips parted for a moment, the men present very much interested, servants and maids listening in quietly as they went about their instructions.

"The Nile took her home. That's all." He uttered, making the king sit up, dark eyes seeing how his mood had fallen.

"It took her downstream? A lower village?" Minue asked, trying to clarify.

"No. It didn't take her downstream." He sighed, pinning his fringe back with pale fingers. "The current didn't take her, the Nile itself took her."

"Anyway," Harker grunted, shaking his head and turning on his heel. "I'm going down to the village to grab my...boat. I'll be back by tonight, probably. See you then."

Imphotop glanced to the Pharaoh and General, gently stroking his beard as he thought over the words.

"The Nile itself, you say?"

()()()

"Try and keep this on, okay?" Harker instructed, pinning the niqab so that it covered the woman's face.

"It's hot." Milanun pouted, peering up at him with earthy orbs.

"I can imagine, but lots of women and girls live with it, so I'm sure you can handle a few hours or less." He sighed, gently tucking away strands of dusty brown hair. "On the bright side, a lot of the materials that I've seen be used for this sort of thing are some damn pretty stuff. Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Okay then." The Australian nodded, pulling his cape tighter and obscuring something that the princess already couldn't see. "Let's go, and be careful, you're Haitian accent may give you away too."

"So, don't talk and don't be seen then?" She huffed, making the man cringe.

"More or less, sadly."

"Fine."

"Sorry."

"It's fine, Harker." The Haitian princess sighed, shaking her head. "I'm just a bit anxious, I'm being separated from you, after all."

When she had heard that Harker wouldn't be as reachable, she had near stopped the plan in its tracks, ready to put her money on that Carol rather than being split apart, but only bit her tongue when she saw the relief on her love's face. Now all Milanun could do was grasp onto his outstretched hand in her own and let him pull her along until they came to an awaiting horse, the stable hand giving the Australian an odd look when he saw the chosen companion.

"Harker, sir, are you sure that a woman would be best to take to town? A soldier or even a male hand would be better."

"She'll do fine, mate. I'm just going to the slave village, having a lady with me will make me seem less like a threat, and cause a less violent backlash. Besides, there'll be plenty of soldiers around." Harker waved him off, tying a bag, stuffed with Milanun's Haitian items, to the horse's hook before urging her over.

The princess gave a noise of surprise as she was lifted from the ground, her hands flying to linen clad shoulders as she was placed upon the saddle, quickly joined from behind, a warm chest pressing to her back and arms coming around her to hold the reigns.

"I'll bring your horse back safely, don't you worry." Harker laughed, waving as he urged the steed along, a soft noise escaping him as the Haitian relaxed into him.

"I guess now would be a bad time to admit to you that I have only a basic understanding of how to handle a horse?"

"You're doing fine, prince." She hushed, petting his bicep, getting a chuckle from the man.

"If you say so, princess." He smiled, before pausing and looking down at her in curiosity. "Question, why do you call me prince?"

The Haitian gave a silent thanks for the niqab covering her face, feeling the dangerous heat in her cheeks from finally being called out, having quietly hoped that the man would have just accepted the title.

"Well, you call me princess, so..."

"But you are a literal princess, Milanun." He rebutted, brow furrowing in confusion.

"And you might as well be one here in Egypt." And Haiti, too. "You live in the palace, sit with the Pharaoh, and-" Her eyes gleamed with a mischief that made the man raised an eyebrow. "You share a bed with a princess at night."

"Har har, very funny." He scoffed, getting the girl to giggle as she leant into his chest, head resting on his collarbone.

Milanun sighed as the man grunted and pulled his hood up, protecting fair skin from the sun and shadowing his brilliant blue eyes from passersby. She wondered what her mother would think of her now, for she no doubt had changed in the time she had been gone from Haiti, her humour and language taking on a lilt that so very Harker, crude words and dark jabs crawling into her vocabulary over days. Her mother would probably faint, and her father would reprimand her. Her brother would probably find it outrageous at first, then come to find it funny, as he always did.

They'd be proud of her too though, for surviving what she had. For fighting through it, finding allies and remaining stubborn. And they'd love Harker, without a doubt. They'd love how he cared for her, how he made sure she was safe and healthy, sealing her wounds with his own hands and watching over her through the nights.

They wouldn't stop her from taking him as her husband, and prince of Haiti, his celestial self no doubt something to verse Egypt's new golden girl.

She'd cherish him. His smile, his laugh, his eyes, his love. She'd make him feel loved until he was nauseous with it all.

"Harker?" Milanun uttered after a moment, getting a noise of acknowledgement. "Can you hug me for a little while?"

The Australian man blinked down at her before taking one arm off the reigns and curling it around the Haitian royal, feeling her press her nose into his clavicle, making him gently pet at her hair through the niqab, a soft noise coming from him.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked gently.

"Just...just thinking about my family."

"Okay, stay like this for a little while then. We'll be there soon."

"Okay."

()()()

"Harker!"

The Australian smiled as the door opened and the Egyptian slave beamed up at him, her face worn and making his heart clench when he saw the darkness beneath her eyes.

"Sephora, I..." He started, but was cut off as the woman ushered him and his 'friend' into the little hut and out of the sun.

"You look so well! The Pharaoh must be kinder than we thought, how is my son? Is he with Carol?" Sephora asked, her face bright as she helped Milanun sit.

"Sephora please!" Harker blurted, grasping the woman by her biceps, before backing off quickly, spluttering an apology for grabbing her. "Sechi is...Sechi is in the Pharaoh's prisons."

In an instant, the joy drained from the woman's face, her dark, worn skin becoming a sickly shade as she looked at the Westerner before her.

"Wh-Why? I thought- But your clothes."

"Carol and I are being kept as ornaments," He explained gently, keeping his hands ready as the woman nearly swayed on her feet. "Sechi is being used to keep us in line, if we behave badly, he receives the punishment."

The pale man thinned his lips and lowered his eyes from the woman, bundling his fists and gritting his teeth.

"I'm sorry. It's my fault, I should have noticed that we were being followed and-"

"In the prisons," Sephora spoke, interrupting the man as she slowly sat herself down, letting the foreigner walk closer in worry. "Do you and Carol try to keep him safe? Do you and Carol do your best?"

"Yes, we try and get him out as often as we can, and we avoid getting in trouble. He's been taken to the General Minue recently, I don't know what's happened afterwards."

"General Minue." She breathed, reaching weakly, asking for a pale hand to take hers.

Harker sat beside the elderly woman and let her lean against him heavily, her face tired and stricken.

"General Minue is a kind man. He...He will be gentle with my son. My Sechi, he will be safe." She uttered, and Harker wasn't sure if she was stating facts, or if she was trying to convince herself.

"I'm sorry." Harker repeated, wrapping his arms around the Egyptian slave. "I'm so sorry."

"He knew this would happen," The mother laughed hollowly, her eyes falling on the empty bed of her son. "He was always an adventurous one, always going out to grab snakes near the Nile and dug up spiders."

"I'm sorry."

"I miss my son." She whimpered, bundling the linen cloth in her hand as she shivered despite the heat. "I miss my son, Harker."

"I'm sorry, Sephora."

"It's so lonely in here. It's harder to wake up now. Sechi always made sure I woke up before the soldiers came, now they're always here and I have no time to eat before I have to work."

Harker clutched the woman tighter as she spoke listlessly, his hand rubbing along her arm as she slumped against him.

"Was Sechi a lively boy?"

The two jumped before looking to Milanun, the slave quickly sitting up and wiping her face, gathering her decorum quickly and smiling shakily at her guest.

"So sorry about that...and yes, he really was, even after his father died, he brightened up the place." Sephora chuckled, her throat catching before she coughed it out. "But, please, may I know who you are?"

"Actually, miss," Harker breathed, calling attention again. "She's one of the reasons I'm here. I know that Carol and I have imposed on you a whole bloody lot already, and we've only seemed to make things worse for you, but you're the only person I can rely on here and actually trust."

"What do you mean?" The Egyptian mother asked, glancing between the two. "Harker?"

"Sephora, I need you to hide someone for me. Only for a little while. A couple days at most."

"Hide? Why does-" She glanced at the covered woman. "Why does she need to be hidden?"

"She's not safe at the palace, not with Ashisu roaming around. I need her to be safe until we can get her home and until her leg heals fully."

"It's almost completely healed," Milanun provided, showing the bandages on her calf. "Just another few days. A week maybe."

"Why does Princess Ashisu want with her?" Sephora asked quickly, getting to her feet and moving away from the two, her hands close to her chest in a defensive manner. "Harker I don't think you realise what you're asking if me."

"I know, it's dangerous, not just for you, but for her, me and for Carol and Sechi should the connection be made. But if all goes well, then you've saved Egypt from another war!"

"War? Why would it be war?"

"Because-"

Milanun stood and gently unclipped her niqab, the material falling from her head and pooling on the edge of the bed as she was revealed in her Haitian glory, royal, aristocratic features recognised in an instant, Sephora's eyes widening as she stumbled backwards.

"Sephora!" Harker yelped, quickly catching the woman and bringing her to sit again as she shook with disbelief.

"P-princess Milanun of Haiti."

"Correct, miss Sephora." Milanun smiled, walking forwards slowly, as to not scare the elderly mother. "I was once betrothed to marry the Pharaoh, but the Princess Ashisu wanted to have him instead, so she trapped me deep in the dungeons with the intent of killing me. Had Harker not found me, I would have surely died."

"Oh, gods." The woman breathed, clutching at the pale hand that was slid into hers.

"I only need your help for a while, miss Sephora. Just so I can return home and ease tensions. I miss my family dearly, miss." She pleaded, lowering herself to gaze up at the woman. "So please, I will only impose for so long."

"Off! Please, get off the floor, princess!" The slave gasped, all but dragging the royal from the dirt-packed ground. "You should not kneel!"

"Especially not with your stitches, Milanun!" Harker hissed with worry, lifting her skirt to feel the outline of the wound.

"I'll kneel if I have to." The princess fought, touching Harker's hand as he frowned at her helplessly. "I am asking for her help, I should be kind."

"But-"

"I'll do it."

The two foreigners whipped around at the soft declaration, Sephora watching the two with a kind of defeated happiness.

"I'll hide you, princess."

Harker's lips parted for a moment, before he scraped his words and scooped up the woman in an outright hug, embracing her tightly with a booming whoop that got him reprimanded for the noise.

"Thank you, Sephora!" He laughed, cuddling the woman to his chest as she sighed fondly.

"Thank you so much, miss Sephora." Milanun smiled, tension seeping from her.

"You'll need to help me out around the house, and you'll have to stay inside and out of sight during the day. Can you do that?" The mother instructed.

"Yes, very easily. Though I may need guidance when it comes to household chores."

"Well, I can work with that." Sephora chuckled, before pushing off the clingy man with an amused huff. "Will you be staying for the evening?"

Harker paused before looking to the sun, making a mental count to give an idea of the time.

"Could you stay for a while longer?" Milanun asked hopefully, not wanting him gone just yet.

"I…"

"Please, Harker?" She pleaded, touching his bicep lightly.

The Australian glanced between the two women, seeing the empty space and remembering how isolated Sephora had felt, and how lost Milanun was. Slowly he smiled and gently grasped the Haitian's hand in a friendly manner, squeezing it for comfort before releasing and looking to the mother.

"Well, if you don't mind me hanging around…"

"It's nice to have the company." Sephora smiled, for once, not looking so drained.

Harker let himself be led over to the beds that doubled as benches during the day, humming as Milanun sat close and lent on his shoulder, understanding her attachment after such an experience.

"So, miss Sephora," Milanun started, drawing attention to herself. "Harker said you were the one who took him and Carol in at first."

This made the Westerner perk suddenly and stand up, onyx eyes following him as he got to his knees and looked beneath the beds, letting out a cheer as he pulled free a strange, white slab.

"My _surfboard!"_

"Oh, you're boat. Were you after that too?" Sephora hummed, coming in with a basketful of dried fruits.

"Yeah, this was my cover for coming into the village. Good thing I left it here, huh?" He grinned, before looking it over, hand sliding along the length appreciatively. "Thank you for looking after this. Gods, I've missed it."

"Is it important?" Milanun asked, not exactly sure what 'it' was, even if it was a 'boat'.

"It's from my home. I was on it when I came here."

The Haitian gazed at the white flat boat, blinking when she saw the depiction of a sun upon the narrow point of it, her brows furrowing in confusion, before stalling when the cape slipped from Harker's shoulder.

A sun. Engraved into alabaster flesh.

()()()

"I got it back!" Harker cheered, dashing into the throne room with his board lifted above his head. "Look at it!"

"Where were you!?" Roared Menfuisu, servants jumping in fright.

Blue eyes flashed in confusion as the man lowered his prize, tucking it under his arm as he approached the king.

"Down at the village. I told you."

"For so long!?"

"Well, yeah?" He shrugged, before pursing his lips and looking around at the party of people, not once spotting pale skin amongst the masses. "Where's Carol?"

The Pharaoh spat a noise before slamming back his goblet, angrily chugging his wine before glaring off at nothing.

"In the dungeons! To work like the slave she is!"

" _What!?"_ Harker blurted, English leaping from his lips and dazzling the room. "I was gone for four hours tops!"

"Four hours too long!" Menfuisu snapped.

"Carol won't survive with such labour, she not built for the stuff!"

"Then she will apologise for her wrongdoings!"

"What wrong doings!?" Harker shouted, ignoring the unsteady state of the people.

"You will watch your tone or you will join her!"

The Australian snarled at the teenaged king openly, sharp cuts of pearl startling the occupants.

"Pharaoh," He grit out, volume lowered but still as based as before. "What are you making her suffer for this time?"

"She claimed that she wanted nothing to do with me! That she didn't want to stay with me!"

"You've kidnapped and contained her, not to mention harassed and abused her!"

"Harker, I will not-"

"Menfuisu, I will not be as patient as your advisors." Harker warned, silencing the room.

The Pharaoh wanted to be angry. Wanted to lash the man for standing against him in public, in his own palace.

But hearing his name fall from petal lips, stained with an ethereal accent was too much for him, and he could only bare his teeth at the pale folk.

It was the murmurs, however, that brought him to his senses. The whispers that jumped from person to person, hushed words that rumoured the Pharaoh being controlled, tames, enslaved.

He raised his hand and in an instant, his Harker was surrounded by soldiers.

"Take him to the dungeon. He will work with the convicts come dawn." The Pharaoh decreed.

Blue eyes widened at him, before darkening to a royal cobalt as they narrowed into a glare, filled with burning disappointment.

"Take his boat. Put it in their chamber." He ordered, perhaps a last-ditch effort.

But the disappointment didn't lift, even as his back was turned and he was led out by soldiers.

General Minue counted seven cups broken now as the Pharaoh threw the goblet across the room.


	8. Chapter 8: Convicts and the Cavalry

**Hi~! I will be using the names Memphis and Isis from now on, as is in the proper English translation! Sorry for any confusion!**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Convicts and the Cavalry**

Carol shuddered as creatures scuttled along the stale, humid stone of the floor, the arms of pale colouring drawing her closer into Harker's protection as they sat quietly, trying to lull each other into unsettled sleep. She sniffed, and promptly choked on the hot air, smothering her coughs in her hand, the Australian covering her form with his cape.

" _You need to sleep, Carol."_ He hushed, rubbing her back soothingly despite how his own shoulders were bunched with tension. " _We're going to have to work hard to keep up tomorrow. I doubt those guards are going to pass up the opportunity to be wankers."_

" _I know,"_ She sighed, cuddling into her friend more, pulling his cape closer as she pressed her temple to his pale collar. " _I'm worried. That Memphis is getting worse every time I see him. I'm scared of what he'll do next."_

Harker thinned his lips at that and covered the girl's eyes with his hand, urging her to rest as he scanned the prison cell, the silhouette shapes of thin, tired human bodies writhing sluggishly on the ground in their restless. The air reeked with a thick mixture of body odour, urine, dirt and warm water, the atmosphere an uncomfortably muggy one that made each breath a regrettable yet necessary intake.

"You should get some rest too, Harker." Unasu hummed, sliding down the wall to sit beside him, the dark of his hair blending into the dimness of the room.

Unasu was another slave that had been sentenced to intense manual labour before Harker and Carol had arrived, though, it must not have been so long ago, for while he was small and calloused, he still had a vitality and strength about him that the others no longer possessed. He had welcomed Carol into the cell when she had first arrived, apparently guiding her away from the first presenting dangers, and had filled both of the Westerners in for their incoming routine once Harker had joined.

"Unasu," The Australian began, looking down to the golden gleam of Carol's hair. "Why are you in here?"

The slave boy blinked, surprised.

"I stole from the local markets of my village," He admitted, sheepishly rubbing his nape. "It was dumb, I should have seen it coming. Maybe I did, and just didn't care at that point. I was hungry, and that was the best chance I was going to get."

The pale person hummed lowly, before he sighed long, relaxing into the wall, knowing that the insects weren't the dangerous kind, and only looked threatening.

"Get some sleep, Unasu." He urged, tapping his own shoulder. "You can sleep on me, I'll be fine."

"Huh?" The boy blinked, smile frozen on his face.

Harker rolled his eyes before yanking the boy over and dumping his head onto the pale, cape-clad shoulder.

"Get to sleep. We're going to need your help tomorrow."

()()()

The Australian grumbled as he woke, sweat clinging to his skins as bodies cuddled close to him even in the rising heat of a dawn. Fluorite eyes narrowed against the heat haze that took the room in a near tangible smoke, whatever smell that had been hidden by the cool of a desert night soared up to a terrible stench of living decay.

His stirring brought Carol from her sleep as well, eyes flickering as they opened, a small smile coming to her face as she gazed up at her companion.

" _It's so hot already."_ The American huffed, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, climbing out of the man's lap. " _It's barely dawn."_

" _It's only going to get hotter from here."_ Harker agreed, before glancing to the people who still were out in exhausted slumber. " _They've all got rashes on their legs and arms, the mud stomping mustn't do much good for temperature in this weather either. It only aggravates the skin."_

"Water..." Someone croaked from within the steaming darkness. "Please, I nee-ed water."

"Carol, go see if you can get him some water, I'll check him over." Harker urged, gesturing to the trickling noise, before making his way over, stepping between curled bodies.

The Australian hissed in sympathy as he knelt down beside the man, watching in the bad lighting as he shivered and sweated, a pool of nitrogenous waste slipping from between his legs as he groaned. Harker pulled his cape safe from the ground and touched the man's brow, wincing when he felt the temperature.

" _Hark! The water here is completely undrinkable! It might as well be mud!"_ Carol cried, rousing the last of the men.

"Then this guy's got diarrhoea." The Western man sighed, wiping his hand on his tunic.

"Don't speak so loud!" A large man hissed, stepping up to them. "If the guards find out, then we're all one for!"

The two white folk looked to each other, both of them coming to the grim conclusion of the times. There were thousands of slaves, a couple dozen wasn't even a dent in the system. If there was a plague or something contagious, it would be easier for the Pharaoh to cut that village off and wait for the disease to die out, than to send aid.

Carol thinned her lips.

" _I'm going to filter the water! That terrible Pharaoh!"_

Harker remained still, looking around to the people who dragged themselves to their feet, tired and thirsty.

"I'll help. I know how, too." He nodded, coming forwards and grabbing a large box that sat off to the side, random pieces of rotting wood sitting inside. "We'll use this as a filter."

"Yes, and we'll need rocks, sand and charcoal!" Carol added, pausing when Unasu came up from behind, acting as a proxy for everyone's confusion. "We're going to clear the water source. This water isn't safe to drink, it needs to be cleaned!"

"Clean the water?"

"They can do that? Just like that?"

"I know where the charcoal is! I'll go get it!"

"I'll get the stones!"

"We don't have much time until dawn," Harker announced, tearing a hole out of the corner of the box for a faucet. "We're going to have to do this fast so you can all drink."

"Got it!"

Carol smile despite the stress of the situation, and glanced to her fellow Westerner. She lifted her skirt and made her way over, gently pulling his cape until it covered the brand of the sun on his bicep.

Harker blinked, before thanking her and pulling it closer. It would be unpleasant if people jumped to conclusions.

()()()

And conclusions they did jump to.

"Praise the children of the Nile!" The prisoners cheered, messily slurping the clean water.

Harker rubbed his brow and shook his head, before grabbing a bowl and filling it up. The crowd parted for the man easily, an occasional hand reaching for him, but shying away before true contact was made.

"Come on," He sighed, kneeling beside the ill man. "Let's get you better."

The Australian slowly helped the man drink, Unasu coming to tilt the man's head properly as the sun continued to rise.

"Hey! Don't waste the water!"

"Idiot! This isn't for washing!"

"But I need to!" A small man shouted in defence, clutching his half empty bowl to him. "I saw the physicians doing this and it saved the man's arm!"

"What's wrong now?" Carol exclaimed, coming over quickly and grasping the injury, before wincing and stepping back. "Oh no, that looks like it's been festering for while!"

"Will we need to bandage it?" Harker asked, tapping water on his patient's brow.

"Yes, after washing it out. Is there anything we can use as a bandage?"

The Australian handed the bowl over to Unasu and stood, striding over to his fellow and measuring up the injury, pulling a face at the slow healing gouge. Turning the arm this way and that, he grunted before taking up his cape and ripping the fine material, making the men shout in surprise as he held up the tattered piece and began fastening it around the stunned man's bicep, Carol already having flushed it of impurities while he had worked the cloth free.

" _I'll tear myself a piece to cover my tattoo and you can use the rest of the cape to cover your head from the sun. If you drench it in water, it'll dissuade the heat and cool you down."_ Harker breathed, ripping another length and handing it over to the hesitant American girl.

" _Are you sure? What about you?"_ She uttered, fingering the fine material unsurely, ready to hand it back. " _You'll get heat stroke without it, surely!"_

" _I think I saw some material in the corner that I can use. It's a bit dirty, but nothing I can't handle."_

" _I can wear that then!"_

" _Nope, wear this. It's too small to cover me like this, but it should fit you well enough."_ He snorted, pushing it back and draping it over her head, making her huff and flail.

"Convicts! Time to work!"

" _Convict, huh."_ Harker hummed, dumping water on a cape he found stored in the corner. " _Nostalgic."_

()()()

"This stopped being fun a long time ago." Harker grumbled, squelching mud beneath his feet as loads of it were carried off to be set as bricks.

"Haha, yeah." Unasu laughed weakly, before wincing as the whip cracked nearby.

"At least Carol's purposefully splashing us whenever she dumps the water." A man chirped optimistically, their point getting proved as the American messily threw the river's water, cooling off prisoners.

"I suppo-pfft!" He was cut off as his head was hit with a wave of water, the prisoners around his laughing as he scrambled to save himself from drowning on land, combing his hair out of his face in a tizzy. "You're all asses!"

Carol giggled into her water pot as she scrambled away, ignoring the fist that Harker shook at her in indignation.

"His Majesty is coming! Kneel!"

The two Westerners snapped their gazes to each other in an instant, and both pulled their hoods lower, the other convicts giving weary glances as they slowly lowered themselves onto aching knees. Carol bit her lip and shuffled behind a large, stone brick, wanting to hide from the Pharaoh's gaze.

Harker followed her with his eyes, but remained with the crowd, feeling the mud dry on his calves as he lowered himself to merge with the rest of the convicts.

"Where are Harker and Carol! The people with the golden hair, I want to see them now!"

The Westerner's jaw jumped at the demanding tone, but he remained still, breathing quietly in the mass of human life.

"Ah! There's Carol!"

" _Shit."_ Harker hissed, getting to his feet as the man raced past on his horse.

Carol gave a shout of surprise and over around the structure, keeping the king at arm's length as she hugged to the grainy edge, watching him with panicked eyes even as he urged her back. She pleaded for him to leave her be, but he continued to reach, before lunging forwards and grabbing her by the arm hard enough to make her exclaim in pain.

"Hey! Hey!" Harker shouted, coming forwards and entering the fray. "Gentle, man!"

"Harker!" Memphis grinned, drawing Carol to his chest in a constricting hold as he took in the dirtied man. "You came to me by yourself!"

"Cause you were hurting Carol! You still are!" He snapped, prying the teen king's arms until Carol barreled into his pale chest, panting breaths into emptied lungs. "She's still just a kid, Pharaoh!"

Memphis grit his teeth, but made no move against him, instead, roughly yanking the cape from his shoulders and disposing of the offending garb on the ground, revealing the pale man in all his druzy glory. Coal eyes travelled the man's length, before screeching to a halt, zeroing in on the white wrapping his bicep in a mock bandage.

The young Pharaoh lurched forwards and grabbed the Western man's arm, yanking him against the tanned front so that the royal could interrogate the place.

"What is this!? Did you injure yourself!?"

"Wha- No?" Harker blinked.

"Was it one of the convicts!? I'll execute them all!"

"No!" The Australian blurted, grasping the Pharaoh's shoulder and guiding him away from the group with repetitive utterings of variants of 'nope'.

"Nope, nope, nope, nah, nope, no, don't." He urged, shaking his head. "I'm fine, Pharaoh, don't worry."

Carol crept forwards and hugged herself to the broad frame of Harker's back, peering around at the king with an expression of distrust.

"Then why is your arm bandaged?!"

"He's covering his mark! That's all!" Carol snipped, hating how the king raised his voice to get what he wanted. "It's not something to create such a fuss about."

"Mark?" General Minue asked, stepping up.

"What mark?" Memphis pressed.

" _Carol."_ Harker growled.

The pharaoh grit his teeth at the celestial speaking, and in a spike of temper, ripped the cloth from the man's arm, making him hiss in pain an surprise.

"A...Sun." Minue breathed, taking in the dark figure etched into the alabaster skin.

"Give me that." Harker snapped, stealing back the cloth and tying it in place, biting one end to pull the knot tight. "People will misunderstand."

Memphis watched his face, seeing how he covered the mark with kind of protectiveness, before snarling in frustration, hating how his heart hurt inexplicably as the man glared at the earth. Carol quietly fixed the clumsy knot, whispering a stuttered apology as she brushed dirt from her friend's cheek, getting a soft response of her hair being softly pet.

"Get me my horse!" He shouted, startling the men who had watched on with wonder, whispers of Gods dancing between lips. "Now! We return to the palace, now!"

Carol yelped as she was grabbed by the Egyptian king and yanked away before Harker could react, already dragged up onto the stallion by the time the Australian had chased them down.

"General Minue, you will ride with Harker. Make sure he's safe." Memphis demanded, refusing to move until he had witnessed the alabaster figure seated in the saddle behind the militant.

Harker thinned his lips as he watched Carol struggle to handle the jostling of the rough riding. Their eyes met, and the sky orbs shared despairing looks, both of them exhausted beyond any amount of sleep. That was perhaps the one thing that they looked forward to when they returned to the palace and under the Pharaoh's thumb, was the bed that they remained often undisturbed in.

The nobles celebrated loudly as the forms of alabaster and gold came into view, living beings of visual riches and breathing jewellery glistening against the sun in spectacular scopes.

" _I'm tired, Hark..."_ Carol coughed as they dismounted at the steps of the court.

" _Yeah, me too."_ Harker sighed, drawing her into his side and forcing himself to loom despite how his muscles ached.

The American girl looked to her friend, and brought her arm up, wrapping it around his waist in a show of support, allowing him to lean against her as they climbed the stairs, knowing his legs must have hurt from a full day of mud stomping.

" _Here we go again."_ The Australian muttered, feeling the girl massage her thumb into his lower back.

" _We've done it before, we can do it again."_

Harker blinked, before smiling, and pressing an affectionate kiss to the top of her head of gold.


	9. Chapter 9: Songs of Reefs and Restless

**Chapter 9: Songs of Reefs and Restlessness**

Harker and Carol recoiled as they dripped with water, tossed into the baths yet again to be washed and perfumed, however, this time, under the enthusiastic surveillance of the Pharaoh, who gawked at them from the edge of the pool.

Carol shuddered at the gaze and sunk lower into the water, hiding her chest with her arms and holding close to the white man's side, feeling polished onyx trace the silhouette of her back even as it rattled with fear and exhaustion. She whimpered as herbal mixtures were splashed across her skin, alabaster shining in flawless slabs that shifted with breath, shoulder blades faint and elegant.

The Australian snarled as a servant girl dumped a pot full of water on his head, beating out the mud and dust to let rivets of the cool liquid slid across sun sparkling druzy. Labradorite eyes narrowed with open enmity as a visible steam lifted from his shoulders, defined clavicle and abdominal muscles clear and fresh in the afternoon sun as he snatched a lathered rag from someone and scrubbed himself defiantly.

Memphis sipped warm wine and let it settle in his stomach alongside the slow spread of victory, blooming like a flower under the morning sun in the presence of the golden two. The way they stood in the rippling, floral fluid making him hum, pleased with what the gods had bestowed upon him.

Harker sneered through his dripping fringe, before coming it out of the way, feeling the last few straggling grains of dirt and sand come off on his hands. Small fingers glanced over his side making him look down and see Carol, huddling shoulder deep in the water, gazing up at him in a hesitant request of comfort. She was scared, and he wasn't surprised, the dark eyes of the Pharaoh frustratingly unnerving for him as well, the way they trailed to take in every line and defining curve. He sent a glare over his shoulder, before sending a settling smile down at his fellow Westerner.

" _He doesn't stop watching."_ Carol whispered urgently, scuttling closer as arms were opened to her.

" _I know, stay close."_ The Australian grunted, running the cloth over his nape and rinsing it out.

"Harker," The Pharaoh snapped, making the man close his eyes for patience. "Come here!"

The American girl looked between the two, giving Harker a worried look that expressed how he didn't have to follow the demand, before taking the cloth as it was dumped in her hands. She watched with a high tension as he waded through the waist deep water, the muscles in the white man's back shifting with barely restrained aggression.

Harker grit his teeth as he stood at the edge of the bath, Memphis standing over him with a satisfied smirk.

"What do you want, Pharaoh?" He huffed after moments of waiting, not liking the gaze sent at him. "I'm trying to take a bath."

"What is that mark on your arm? Tell me." Memphis demanded swiftly.

Harker thinned his lips and brought up his hand, covering the sun engraved into the alabaster in a protective, near self-conscious, manner. He didn't like how General Minus had uttered at it in an airy awe, and how Memphis had gained a hypnotic attraction for it, the entire trip back having been spent trying to wean information out from between Carol's lips.

For once, the girl had been silent.

"It's just a...fuck, what's the word. It's a _tattoo."_ He grunted, unable to find the translation.

"Taht-u?" The Pharaoh stuttered, furrowing his brow.

"Yeah," Harker shrugged, "A _tattoo._ It's nothing to get all hyped up about, don't worry."

The teenaged king narrowed his eyes, before frowning and grabbing the pale man's arm, dragging him forwards until he could examine the deeply seated, black lines which curled beneath transparent layers of smooth, sparkling druzy. He scowled and rubbed at it, demanding a cloth and scrubbed the white complexion until Harker raised his voice, the skin red and raw.

"Ow! Get off!"

Memphis stumbled as an alabaster hand clapped away his own sun tanned, eyes of Nile reflecting pain and irritation set into a glare.

"Stop that!" Carol yelped, coming forward and placing her hand over the thrumming flesh, making her friend hiss.

"Do not tell me what to do!" Memphis spat, still buzzing with the strike, his hand held limp before him.

" _Ah, that looks like it hurts."_ Carol tsked, washing water over it.

" _It'll be a bitch to have in this heat."_ Harker grunted, before glancing down. " _Carol, your chest."_

The Westerner blinked, before she snapped her head to the Pharaoh who had found an interest in her figure, making her shout and leap at the first source of safety, latching onto her fellow white folk as surprised arms came around to hug her.

Harker blinked in confusion, wondering why she had just done that, but shook his head and tried to calm her. Australian brought her closer and walked them away from the Pharaoh, who watched in simpering silence as the two white forms bathed themselves in the bleeding sun of the afternoon.

Carol muttered something as the man fell onto his back, floating them across the water in a slanted manner, their waists beneath the herbal liquid as it rippled with their breath. She sighed as her cheek rested on a pale pectoral, making random swirls in the reflections of skies.

" _We should get out soon,"_ Harker uttered, wrists moving slowly to cart them through the warm light. " _It's getting dark, and I'd rather be ready for bed than shivering when it is."_

" _Mm_ ," Carol agreed softly, her eyes wavering in their focus as the heartbeat soothed her mind. " _True…"_

()()()

The Westerners were low as they sat in the sun by the pools that framed the court, lilies and lotuses floating across the water which Carol waded through, collecting armfuls of the sweet-scented flowers as Harker sat cross-legged at the shore.

Unasu watched from a few steps away, his arms set firmly behind him as he scanned the surrounding plains, his soldier garb shining in the light.

Carol bit her lip, feeling the bubbling temper of indignant betrayal simmer under her emotional exhaustion. Harker flicked away a twig he had been fiddling with, looking away from the man pointedly.

Unasu had been a soldier all along, sent by Memphis to keep an eye on them while they were condemned to suffer. He was just the same now, with only a different kind of cell for him to patrol. They could not go anywhere without him hovering, which gave them no privacy, the militant stationed by their door when they rested, and in the next room when they had attempted to watch them bathe, but Carol had drawn a hard line.

The Australian sighed and looked down at his hands, making an absent note of how long his nails had become. He hummed to himself as he began scraping sand out from under them, before pausing and placing the song he had begun with a nostalgic smile.

" _Taba naba, naba norem,"_ Harker sang quietly, sliding his hands over one another " _Tugi penai siri, dinghy e naba we."_

Carol ceased her restless plucking, and turned to the low notes, not recognising the language as the man pressed his palm to the hot stone by his knee, then to his shoulder, then doing the same on the other side of himself.

" _Miko keimi, sere re naba we."_ He continued, smiling to himself as he touched his shoulder then raised his hands up to bring them to settle on his waist. " _Taba naba norem._ "

" _What was that?"_ Carol asked, coming to him as her feet sparkled under the sun, tracks of water disappearing behind her.

" _It's a Torres Strait Islander song, Taba Naba_." Harker laughed, reminiscent.

" _Torres Strait Islander?"_

" _Yeah, don't you know? Well, I guess they aren't a huge topic outside of Australia_." He hummed, thinking to himself. " _In Australia, there are these group of islands above and around the top of Queensland. Those are the Islanders, people like Tongans and such."_

" _And they've got their own dialect?"_ She urged, her natural curiosity piquing as she came to sit beside him.

" _Well, yes. Every part of our native groups have different dialects, even the Aboriginals from the mainland had hundreds of languages. Australia's a big lot of land."_ Harker explained with a laugh.

" _So that's, like, a chant or something?"_

" _Nah, it's a children's song. It basically says 'let's go down to the reed and have fun'"._

The American girl tilted her head, imagining families splashing in the green-blue of the beaches she had seen in pictures, a smile coming to her face as she heard phantom laughter.

" _That sounds nice."_

Harker reflected the expression, before humming as the girl shuffled into a cross-legged position.

" _Can you teach me?"_

" _Sure, just follow me, yeah? I'll sing."_

Carol laughed and mimicked the man's actions as the Islander tongue fell from him, sliding her wet palms over one another as lilts of history floated around with a strength that was granted with company.

" _Taba naba, naba norem."_

Memphis demanded the nobles pause their chattering as a warm voice floated up, charcoal eyes sliding across the horizon before he lifted from his lounge. He carried himself to the edge of the humid space, the court following close, before he peered to the figures of carved druzy, celestial, petal-soft smiles light upon their pale complexions as a smooth song of something otherworldly echoing into the Ancient's ears as Carol joined in, giggles lacing her tone.

" _Tugi penai siri, dinghy e naba we."_ Harker rumbled, teeth of pearl flashing in open joy.

" _Miko keimi, sere re naba we."_ The woman of alabaster followed, touching the earth to her shoulders as the man did.

" _Taba naba norem!"_

The Pharaoh watched as they raised their hands up, feeling the sun's radiance on their luminescent palms, before they curled their arms to rest their hands upon their waists, Carol letting out a tinkling laugh as the man of white calcite wiggled his hips.

The woman pushed herself forwards and wrapped the quartz bodies together in a jeweled embrace, gold and gems flashing in the sun as they were bowled backwards, joy and glee echoing through the place of royalty as the court watched the two ethereals tickle each other beside the blooming pool of floral designs which bloomed for their praise.

()()()

Harker dodged under a beam of wood as he made his way through the village of Goshen, slaves glancing at his cloaked figure, before scampering out of his way, his height making him a bit of a spectacle in the tightly packed streets. Under his arm, he carried a bundle wrapped in cloth, food and medicines crammed inside for both Sephora and Milanun.

Carol had gone to the Thebe's marketplace, taking Unasu with her. Memphis had attempted to keep Harker close to him as a result, nearly dragging the alabaster man down onto his lounge in front of the court and Isis - Harker had nearly bared his teeth at the sheer animosity that he had felt become directed at him by the Egyptian princess.

The Pharaoh had relented, however, when Harker had grunted out that he wouldn't try to run for it while Carol was still here. It had been bitter, but his leash had been extended for a short amount of time.

The Australian shook his head, before turning the familiar corner of mudstone and sand, and sighed as he came to the low door and cracked his knuckles against the warm wood.

"Sephora!" He called, before the door swung open and the old Egyptian smiled up at him.

"Harker!" She greeted, stepping aside for the white man to slide on in. "Sit, sit. Oh, Milanun! Milanun, Harker is here!"

The white man laughed from his seat, hood pushed from his shoulders to bare his pale skin to the stuffy hot room. He raised his bundle before unpacking it, Sephora giving a coo of awe as he handed over to her dried meats, fruits and jars of ale for her to store and consume over time at leisure.

The off to the side moved, before the brown, Haitian eyes of their princess peered out to see a smiling face. Milanun burst from the corner and wrapped her arms around Harker with a joyous cry, smothering her face into his shoulder as she knocked him onto his back, laugher booming from within his chest.

"Careful!" Sephora scolded, despite how she smiled at the two. "Try not to be too loud."

"How have you been? How's the leg?" Harker asked, sitting up as the woman held onto him. "Come on, show me."

Milanun curled into his warm side as he brought her leg into his lap, raising her skirt to allow him to unravel the bandages and examine sun tanned skin. He hummed thoughtfully as she dropped her head on his shoulder, hot hands thumbing an applying pressure with soft questions.

"No pain." She hummed, feeling the rough tips of her prince's fingers.

"It's looking good," Harker uttered, eyeing the stitches. "We should be able to take them out today, actually. But try not to split the skin, it'll be a bit fragile for a little while, got it?"

"So the princess has almost completely healed then?" Sephora urged, placing down a tray of drinks.

"Almost," The Australian nodded, smiling at their expressions of excitement. "You'll be able to return home soon!"

Milanun smiled and reached for the man's hand, holding onto it with a flirtatious grip. Harker laughed and squeezed back, before withdrawing his limb and looking to the elderly Egyptian mother.

"Ms Sephora, can I have a knife and some boiling water? I'm going to remove Milanun's stitches."

"Will it hurt?" The Haitian royal asked.

"No, no. You'll probably feel some sharp tugging, but it won't hurt any more than pinching." He soothed, before reaching over and snagging a thin piece of her skin between his fingers playfully. "Like that!"

"Ow!" She huffed, slapping his hand away and crossing her arms in a defensive manner to protect them.

Milanun was going home. She needed to plan. How they would get Harker out from under the thumb of that hateful Pharaoh. How they would smuggle this pale being across the desert of sand without having soldiers of saline lands laying their hands on her precious cargo.

The Haitian flinched as the hot, steaming blade of the stone knife glanced over her skin, the weak material of the stitches giving under the swift assault. The tension in her skin which she had grown used to through the days lessened with each swipe, one after another, before Harker tossed away the threads and rooted through his bundle, pulling free a container, which he popped open to curl a finger and gain a slathering of aloe vera gel.

He hummed comfortingly as he slathered it over the marks left behind, leaving a generous, gelatinous layer that gleamed on his finger and her skin, scenting a fresh, clean smell.

"Remember to be gentle with it, don't strain yourself. Eat and drink, and stay out of trouble."

"I will." She promised, letting herself be manipulated until her legs were once again united, still leaning heavily on the man's side.

Harker smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a familiar manner, letting the royal curl into him happily. He hummed before turning his attention to the matron who watched them with a nostalgic gaze.

"She missed you, kept talking about you."

"Yeah?" He uttered, the princess lost to her own world. "I missed her too. Thank you for looking after her."

"No problem, she was good company." Sephora smiled, looking at the woman's closed-eyed expression. "Makes this small, rickety place more lively."

Harker thinned his lips, before reaching out and squeezing the Egyptian mother's hand.

"Good." He smiled. "I'm glad."


	10. Chapter 10: Lost Man's Limit

**Chapter 10: Lost Man's Limit**

Harker thinned his lips as he traced the sun design at the nose of his board, the action thoughtless with his mind elsewhere. Labradorite eyes were glazed over with absence as his mind wandered to a place beyond the veils that held him from his home.

Carol burst into the dorm of the Pale Pair with enthusiasm, making Harker look up from his board and greet her as she dropped down on the bed beside him.

" _I met a Palestine merchant today in the markets!"_

" _Did you?"_ He asked, placing the so-called 'boat' back up against the wall and shaking off his solemn mood to smile at the girl.

" _Yes!"_ She cheered, crawling so that she was closer, before kneeling beside his new spot, a hand on his shoulder. " _Hark, this means he could be a possible route of escape from Egypt!"_

Harker sat straight, his attention fully awake as he locked gazes with the American woman.

" _Really? Wait, how do we know we can trust them?"_

She bit her lip and thought about the words, before responding with a careful, " _They seemed really nice, and there were many people in their caravan. A family maybe?"_

The Australian hummed, but still expressed doubt, thumbing his lower lip as he thought about her offer. Carol explained her idea to him in more detail, describing how travelling with such a group across the desert would be a good plan of escape, and disappearing into Palestine or a surrounding country would be easy once there.

Harker nodded, but sighed.

" _I understand, Carol, and your idea is good. But we have to be careful."_

" _But Harker, opportunities are scarce! We need to be careful, yes, but we also need to act when we get the chance! Take risks!"_ She tried, holding onto his bicep as if to drag him onto her side.

" _Yes, I get it, I know what you're talking about but-"_

" _Please, Harker!"_

" _Can we please not talk about this now I'm just not-"_

" _We have to try, it may be our only chance before-"_

" _Look, I understand-"_

" _Then you know that, Harker, we have to-"_

" _Carol!"_ He snapped, yanking his arm out of her hands and making her tumble.

The Australian yelped and caught her before she could hit the ground, pulling the girl back onto the bed, before backing away with his hands wringing before him with a rise of anxiety.

" _Sorry,"_ The pale man uttered, taking another step away. " _Sorry. I, um, I'm gonna go take a walk- or something. Sorry."_

Carol watched as her older companion fled their room, his teeth grit and body tense. Unasu tried to follow him from their door, but the guard was brushed aside none-too gently by the Western man.

Slowly, she sat up from where she had been practically tossed, and straightened her lopsided headset, brushing her hair out of her face, a bit rattled by the rough handling. She touched her bicep, still feeling dull thrums of pain from where she had been grabbed in her fall, and winced, wondering if a bruise would arise.

Nile eyes looked to the doorway again, before turning to Harker's board, and she swore she saw droplets sliding down its milky white surface.

" _Harker..."_

()()()

Harker tried to hold his breath as he sat in the shade of a tree in the palace gardens, alabaster knuckles pinched between shards of pearl to cease their shaking and mute his fractured exhales, staring at the black ink sky.

He had been doing so well, he thought he had gotten past this. The ache for his home, for his mother, for his friends had been padded down by the distractions of ancient lives, and he had thought that the sting in his chest and eyes had faded, a resistance built.

It would seem that it had only been biding its time, and now was back with a vengeance. His heart would be neglected no longer.

It was a sharp sting and a painful thrum that squeezed inside of his chest and rolled around in the cavity. His heart was shaking in its terror and in its rage, the jagged edges of it feeling like the inside had turned into a geode, making breath hurt and blood sluggish.

Harker shuddered as a breeze rode up the Nile and chilled him for a moment, before he swallowed thickly and leant back against the hard trunk of the oasis tree. He gazed at the sky again, before grunting and tearing his labradorite away, feeling his heart twist at the sight.

"What are you doing out here?"

The Australian snapped his head to the sharp question, Memphis storming up to him with a scowl. He sniffed and scrubbed his eyes before clearing his throat, the Pharaoh coming to a stop beside him, crossing suntanned arms.

"It's too late for you to be out of your room. You're either in your room or in the court with me after dark!"

"I just," Harker began, taking up a dried weed and peeling it to distract himself. "Needed to be alone. For a bit."

Memphis furrowed his brows at the hoarse voice and shaking words, arms falling as he tried to see the man's face.

"What's wrong with you?" He huffed.

"Nothing. I'm fine." The other grunted, looking away pointedly as his vision burnt.

The Pharaoh scowled at the abrupt brush off, and crossed his arms again out of sheer restlessness, a raising pressure of unsurety blooming in his chest. Memphis didn't know how to deal with this.

"Are you sure?" He asked, something that was meant to come out more gently than it did.

Harker didn't answer, and just tossed away strings of dried plant matter, before coiling himself up.

The teenaged king bit his lower lip and glanced around, half-hoping he'd find someone, maybe Minus or Isis, and ask them to take over. The other half wanted to be the one to solve the alabaster man's grievance. That side won out.

Memphis grit his teeth before shuffling over and dropping down beside the pale person like a petulant child, arms still crossed in nervousness as he glanced at the stubbornly quiet man. He looked at Harker expectantly, fidgeting.

"So..." He began, gazing around. "Are...What did you do in the village?"

The Australian glanced at him, letting the Pharaoh see a flash of saline red.

"I went and saw the place I left my...boat."

"Oh."

The Ancient wiggled his toes in his sandals and looked over to the pale man, before dropping his haze and gritting his teeth. They sat in an awkward, tense silence before he looked up and took in the speckles of brilliant light amongst the dark night.

"The stars are...nice tonight."

Harker flinched.

"I guess."

The Westerner pulled his linen cape around himself tighter, wings of white curling to hide the being of alabaster away. It made the Pharaoh nearly lunge for him, to keep him visible and unwound, but his nerves kept him from moving, and he only watched with gritted teeth.

"Just tell me what's going on!" He finally snapped, fists clenched, temper rising. "Gods! Speak man!"

Slabs of Ra's sky turned on him with a kind of simmering fury that stung his flesh, but Memphis was stubborn, and he merely responded with a hot coaled glare of expectation.

Harker scoffed. Of course, the teen king expected him to peel his layers for him, to vocalise and express his plight. He doubted Memphis had ever quietly suffered with himself, always quick to shout and vent his frustrations.

Perhaps, he thought for a moment, that was slightly healthier. In a manner of speaking.

The Pharaoh growled before lashing out, and wrapping his arms around the pale man in a violent embrace that left the Australian baffled.

Harker turned his head to the king in confusion, but the other had looked away to hide the unsurety in his expression. His lip twitched, he was unsure if it would have turned into a scowl or a smile, before he slumped into the embrace, gently guiding an elbow away from his neck so it could settle somewhere more comfortable.

Memphis stilled as a head of golden locks dropped onto his shoulder, a light stream of warm breath wafting across the sweat spangled dips of his clavicle, the grand form of the celestial man relaxing under his hands. His heart soared before he could ground it with stone, a smile creeping up the corners of his lips.

"I miss my home."

And Memphis froze.

"I miss it so badly. I want to see it again." Harker continued, oblivious to the wide state of the Egyptian's eyes. "I want to smell the fire, I want to smell the soil."

"It would be cold this time of year, July. So the leaves must have turned orange and gold already, fallen to leave the trees bare." He glanced over to the Pharaoh, but his vision was filled by the jewelled collar that hung from his neck. "Not the _gum trees_ or the _wattle_ though, they never change colour. They bloom in fire. They need to die to live. I always liked _gum trees_ cause of that."

"My home is burning nearly all year round, you know?" The Australian laughed weakly, feeling the arms of the Ancient tighten around him. "Somewhere, something is on fire, whether rain or shine. The smell of smoke isn't an unfamiliar one."

Harker sighed, before relaxing more into the man, taking a loose lotus leaf from the sand and sliding it across his pearly fingers.

"Everything's so different here. Everything." He uttered weakly, touching the brown, veiny patterns that spread across the pale petal. He grit his teeth and threw it away, the thing fluttering gently despite his rise of temper that made his jaw tense. "Not even the stars are the same, _God damn it!_ "

Tears stung his eyes as a growl slithered into his voice, the unfamiliar constellations blurring into unidentifiable blights of white.

"I can't find my stars! Where's the upside-down _Big Dipper_ _? The Southern Cross?!_ " The white quartz body shuddered with a broken breath, hands coming to scrub his eyes and face. "I want to go home. I want to see my mum, I want to see my stars."

Memphis stared down at the restless man, watching how shoulders rattled. His mind screeched. Harker wanted to leave. Carol wanted to leave. They wanted to leave Egypt. Leave him.

He tightened his arms further and bared his teeth, eyes wide with a high, bubbling enmity. Why couldn't they just be happy with what he had here? They should be thrilled by his love for them, anyone else would throw themselves on the hot floor at his feet for such affection from the son of the Sun God. And yet they shuddered and craved a 'home' far beyond his reach.

Harker sniffed and shook his head before falling back against the Pharaoh, his breath laboured as he tried to settle himself, using the firm grip of the arms around him as an anchor to the reality he despised, but had to accept.

"I miss my home, Pharaoh." He uttered, his hand coming up to brush aside his cape and bare the mark of the sun on his bicep, tracing it with his fingers as his heart ached. "I just want to go home."

The Westerner sighed after a moment of silence, and made to stand.

"Thanks for listening, I gue-" He paused, unable to get to his feet. "Pharaoh?"

"Stay." Memphis grunted, yanking the man down roughly. "You will stay here. You cannot leave."

Harker uttered a noise of confusion before yelping as he was yanked back into the ancient king's chest, arms constricting to the point of near painful around his waist, making alabaster hands fall to earthy arms in a halted attempt to pry them off.

"You cannot leave!" The Pharaoh hissed, holding the Westerner closer. "I do not allow it!"

"What is wrong with you now?!" Harker snapped.

"You will stay in Egypt with me! You are not allowed to leave! Not you, not Carol!"

"The _fuck mate?!_ " The Australian shouted, before prying off the constricting arms and getting to his feet, taking steps away to place distance between the two men.

Memphis was standing in moments, watching the white other with caution and rage as he fought the desire to outright grab him, knowing that such a tactic would only end badly. He bared his teeth and stepped forwards, eyes of kohl and coal narrowing as the male of the Golden Set took an evasive one to the side.

"That's enough, I think," Harker gritted out, pulling his cape over his mark. "I'm going back to my room. I think we've spent enough time around each other."

"No, come here!"

The Pharaoh threw caution to the wind and lunge, grabbing the Westerner by the arms in his moment of stun. Harker snapped back and tried to yank his arms out of the Egyptian's grip, but only found blunt nails digging into his flesh as a response, being used to try and drag him against the warm body of the king.

"Get off of me!"

"Hold still!"

"Enough!" Harker boomed, pushing the man off and sending him stumbling. "I've had enough, _God damn it!_ I've had enough!"

His hands flew to golden strands as the Western man tried to reign his temper, feeling it festering under his skin as it fumed. Pearl teeth were exposed in a growl-laced snarl that promised violence, but the eyes, carved from the sky, shone with a well up of liquid loneliness and frustration.

"Just leave me alone! I just want to be alone! Is that so hard?" He roared, ignoring the gatherings of servants and court members, attracted by the sounds of shouting. "Just leave me alone…"

Memphis flinched at the broken sound that came out of the celestial, before the druzy being turned and trudged from the gardens, shoulders slumped, looking distressed and drained. The royal gazed after him, emotions he couldn't identify or reign swamping bis chest and mind, making his hands clench and his teeth grit, before he stormed into the palace and kicked a large vase over in a fit.

Water spilt across the hot stone floor, fire dancing on the liquid mirror as it spider-webbed into smaller rivers which dripped down the stairs. The stars glimmered in the thin spires of fluid, and Memphis found himself staring, before slamming his foot down on the lights.


	11. Chapter 11: The Harm Of A Hairpiece

**Chapter 11: The Harm Of A Haitian's Hairpiece**

A servant girl moved around the room of the Pharaoh's Golden Set with a kind of paranoia, her arms jolting as she made their grand bed of fine linens like she was tasked to pet the mane of a lion. She placed down the last pillow, fluffed it until it looked just as soft as it was, then retreated to tend to the messes of the monarch's favourites.

She was sweeping the sand from the floor, being careful of dirtying any furniture, when she paused, the loud clatter of something dragging beneath her twig broom making her freeze. The item was fished out from the lump of dust and sand, dazzling in its riches and bejewelled with luxury.

The girl gazed down at it, a hair ornament of noble class, and felt a well up of something incredible and something stupid swell in her chest. She glanced around, seeing the class of the room.

A servant girl made her way through the markets, a pouch of money in her pocket, feeling happier than she had felt in a long time. And all for the cost of a lazy noble leaving their things on the ground.

()()()

Milanun smiled to herself as she ran her fingers through Harker's golden hair, his head resting on her chest with closed eyes, relaxing under her touch. She hummed to him listlessly as the faint rub of material sounded off to the side, Sephora quietly sewing torn clothing in attempts to salvage it.

Harker had attempted to bring their sanctuary better garments from the palace, but she had rejected them quite firmly, explaining that such luxuries would bring unwanted, and possibly dangerous, attention to her and Milanun. He still brought supplies like ale and meats, despite how Sephora protested, insistent that he give things in return for her sheltering the Haitian royal.

The man stirred like he knew she was thinking of him, making her croon low to settle his restlessness again.

"You're so tense, Harker." The princess murmured, thumbing at his brow to brush away a dotting of sweat.

She was unhappy with how he had bared his teeth unwittingly when he had all but burst in that morning, jaw locked and neck strained in aggression as he paced in the tight space of the clay house. She had touched his scalding skin with worry and had been nearly knocked back by the high strung celestial, but she saw how he bit into his own teeth to restrain the violence. Yes, Milanun cursed the Pharaoh when he had come, but she bathed in the moment Harker had pressed his brow to her shoulder and took solace in her embrace, cuddling into it with drowsy enthusiasm.

The Haitian crooned into a pale ear when the man shifted, making her fit more snugly into the lumpy pillows she had reclined them on.

"I just need some time to calm down." He sighed, tilting his head so she would graze her nails over a different part of his golden scalp.

"Take all the time you need, prince." She hushed, her other hand sliding down his arm until she laid their palms together, feeling his heartbeat thrum through the tips of their fingers. "Just relax, sleep if you need. I'm here."

Her heart swelled when she saw a smile flicker on petal-soft lips.

Milanun continued to slowly quell her love's tensions as he drifted off before her eyes rose to the lady Sephora, who was watching them with fondness. She smiled shyly but happily under the stare, getting a soft laugh from the woman. Her hands continued to pet and soothe the other-worldly being as she gazed down at him, watching as the lines in his face became less severe.

The Haitian hummed as her fingers slid through soft hair, adoring how gentle the strands were on her skin and how they tickled her throat from where he had laid. Smiling was an expression she couldn't withdraw from as she languished under Harker's weight, a rumble of contentment beginning deep in his throat and making her cheeks gain a ruby hue.

"You look happy." Sephora laughed softly, peering at the two as she put aside her work.

"I am," Milanun whispered, resting her cheek on his crown.

She couldn't wait to take him home with her.

()()()

"Carol! Come here now!"

Harker sighed in annoyance as he continued to dangle his feet in the water of the man-made oasis at the foot of the court, sunburn soothed by the cool, feathered touch. He and the American woman hadn't spoken since the sun had risen on a new day, the man not feeling quite ready to apologise, though he knew that Carol had not meant to cause such a rise to come from him.

The girl seemed trepid to approach him any time soon, always glancing at him from around corners or behind curtains but never taking the leap and striking up conversation. Something that Harker was both pleased by, and a bit disappointed by; he might have found the drive to say a sorry if she did.

Tensions with the Pharaoh were just as taut, and in his childishness, it seemed that the king wasn't going to even acknowledge the man until Harker grovelled for forgiveness. That, however, did not stop Memphis for summoning Carol everytime he felt the urge, which was doubled now that the other outlet had been removed.

Harker huffed and kicked an arch of water into the sky, Unasu hovering awkwardly at a midpoint between the two Westerners, stretched pitifully thin in his attempts to keep them both in sight. He was nearly sympathetic, but shut that emotion off and turned his attention back to the ripples that birthed from his submerged calves.

"Carol!"

He glanced over his shoulder and bared his teeth as Carol shuddered within the constriction of the Pharaoh's grasp, an arm curling around to box her in against his bejewelled chest. The Australian grimaced for her, but only watched as the woman quickly refastened his clasp, which had apparently unravelled of its own accord.

Black eyes rose from the girl and drifted over to the pale quartz slab of the Westerner's back, his lip pulling in a bubbling of anger as he was further ignored, the elder man splashing idly in the crystal waters of the oasis, lilies floating closer as if drawn in by his gravity.

"Unasu!" Harker called suddenly, sitting up a bit, and Memphis hated how his ears perked upon the foreign accent. "Can you bring me my boat?"

The soldier glanced to the king for acknowledgement, and it took a moment for the young monarch to force a jaunty nod out of himself. He had Harker in his sights, and Carol was securely in his arms, her breaths a sweetened melody to his ears and her cool skin a soothing balm from the aches of his monarch-labours.

There was a moment that the woman squirmed out of his arms and stumbled away, a huff of relief escaping her lips as she shied from his attention, making him grit his teeth at her. She withered, before turning on her heel and making her way across the hot stone, jewels catching the sun's rays and sparkling like something truly precious. The pale woman paused, her hand against a pillar of sandstone, horizon gaze drawn to the Westerner by the oasis, before she turned and disappeared beyond the curtains of the court.

Memphis grunted in dislike, scowling at the settling curtain with disdain and was halfway ready to bark after the American girl when he was interrupted by a loud splash, the ' _thunk' 'thunk_ ' of a strange material being mounted bringing his attention around.

His lips parted in a breath when he saw Harker afloat on his flat boat, straddling it as the being of alabaster drifted across the water like an aimless lily petal. The man's cape floated about him like the halo of a brilliant sun when gazed upon through human eyes, water rippling in a gentle excitement as it guided the being along. Azure orbs of carved out sky were turned to the horizon, a sour wine the flavour of the man's gaze, which urged the Pharaoh of the Ancients to take a step forward, but only one.

Then Harker spun around, gold flashing in refracting sunlight and dazzling the king for a moment, before he regained himself and remembered his rage. He huffed, and stormed away, disregarding how his feet tried to turn back and how his eyes tried to follow, those traitorous pieces of him receiving a curse from his mind's tongue as he fled.

()()()

" _Oh my God, he's torturing the poor man!"_ Carol gasped, her hand covering her mouth reflexively as she listened to the order of the young king ring out, a Haitian soldier on his knees before him.

"I don't know! I don't know, I swear!"

"How could you not?" Memphis snapped, pacing the length of the humid cell, sandals scuffing blood-tacky stone. "You have the sword, you must know how it is made! You don't fool me!"

The crack of leather whips and the shouts of men made Carol recoil, a chill settling in her stomach as she shook with the desire to flee.

"He's not confessing." Minus huffed, pulling the man by his hair.

"Fine," that hateful king gritted, waving a hand in order. "Show him what happens when people don't listen! Cut his arm off!"

He sounded like a displeased child trying to buff itself up, and while it would make Harker turn his head away in disappointment, it made Carol's breath hitch as realisations of how his lack of regard would end an undeserving life.

" _Wait, wait,"_ she yelped, rushing forwards and grabbing Memphis by his wrist; metal braces cold beneath her fingers. "Don't kill him! You can't!"

The Egyptian Ancient yanked the woman forward and wrapped his hands around her thin biceps, an angry sneer on his face as he glared down at her.

"And why not? He is denying the Pharaoh. A lowly prisoner!"

"Just wait, he doesn't deserve to die," Carol insisted, wincing under his hold.

"He refuses to tell us how to make a metal sword."

The American flinched at the man's tone before snapping her gaze around. She saw blacksmiths standing around piles of crude metal and barrels of flame, making her sweat from the heat before lurching out of the king's confines and grabbing a heavy pair of tongs off the floor. She pinched a slab of metal and laid it into the fire, her skin stinging from the wafting temperature.

"I can make one!" The girl gasped, squinting against the server light. "Just stop!"

From over the heat haze of the furnace, she caught the gaze of alabaster and azure; a being of druzy staring at her from behind a pillar of sandstone. Carol breathed through her mouth in her prickling panic, hoping her friend would come, the metals heavy in her hands.

Then she paused, then clamped her grip down harder, remembering the droplets on the white surface of Harker' surfboard and the straps of red across a pale back. She could handle the heat if he could take a lashing.

Her lip came to be bitten as she continued to weld and shape, her arms aching and brow melting in the effort to forge a sword from metal. Finally, after many turns, the young American dropped the heavy, crude weapon from her aching hands and collapsed with a dramatic sigh as she tried to cool off.

"And, if," she panted for a moment, feeling a dull throbbing in her fingers. "If you do that a few more times- sharpen it with a stone, it will become a sword! I swear, now stop hurting the poor man!"

There was silence as the men marvelled over her creation, the woman blowing into her palms to cool them of their mild burns and strains. She gasped as a hand wrapped around her bicep and pulled her against a jewelled chest, the gold and gems digging into her uncomfortably as she was contained within arms.

"Such skill! Such knowledge," Memphis breathed in wonder, making her stomach set in cold. "Truly qualities of a queen fit to stand beside me."

" _Wait, wait -_ this is common knowledge where I come from! Anyone can do it!" Carol insisted, trying to wriggle her way out of tanned constraints. "Ryan, Jimmy and Harker could do it too! It's not that great!"

In a moment, eyes turned to the man who leant against a pillar of sandstone. They murmured to one another, cobalt eyes slowly narrowing in dislike, before the Australian grunted and obscured himself from the crowd; still present but not among them.

"The children of gods! They must be!" someone gasped within the crowd. "Their appearance and knowledge - the gods have sent us their children!"

"Didn't the prisoners call then the children of the Nile?" another whispered, looks of euphoria passed faces as they gazed upon incarnations of their own crowning. "It must be true then!"

"Harker is not my brother! We aren't related, he's not even from my land!" Carol tried, flinching back into the king's chest as the court squirmed closer. " _Get away!"_

"Not your brother? Tell us, what god's blood runs through his veins?" they gasped, mind bubbling with the possibilities. "Who is it? Sekhmet? Isis? Maat? Osiris?"

A vase was shattered against a wall, the sound abusive and startling enough to draw the Ancients from their inquiries of divine origins. Harker glared at the group, teeth exposed in his rise of agitation. Carol wheezed in Memphis' grasp before wriggling free and darting from the room, hearing the chaos as the other of their Golden Set fled as well.

" _The children of gods? Oh, what on earth!?"_ she cried, tossing the curtains of the Westerner's chambers closed after her. " _We - we need to leave. We can't stay here; it's too dangerous."_

The American girl walked to the window, her brow furrowed with stress as her hands ached from their abuse. She breathed heavy, taking in ragged lungfuls of desert perfumes, before exhaling, letting the tension of her body seep out with it. Her hands bundled as she turned to her possessions with resolution.

" _The merchant can get us out of here. I need to meet with him."_

()()()

The markets were a whirl of chaos that was underlined with a kind of silken structure, invisible to those who were unfamiliar with it, but still existent nonetheless, and the very thing that allowed the folk of desert countries to slip between each other like droplets in a massive river of human life.

A hooded figure looked up from their trade as the shout of their name rung through the undergrowth of humanity, their allies waving them over with an expression of muted pain marring their expressions. They followed them, keeping close as they ducked into a humid hut of mudstone.

The figure raised his hands, free of callus of labour, and shrugged his hood off of rich brown locks; Prince Ismir of Haiti letting his dark eyes survey the hut of Haitian soldiers within the walls of Egypt's capital.

"What is it? Is there news?" Ismir demanded, walking further in and receiving bows from his countrymen. He didn't want that now, he wanted progress.

"Bad news," a soldier clarified, stepping forwards and handing over a trinket to the royal. "I found this in the downtown market."

A hairpiece, worth more than someone in a downtown area could possibly imagine to 'stumble' across, laid in his palm. Jewels and fine twine curling on his skin and stinging it with its cool touch.

"This-" the prince choked on his words as he recognised the craftsmanship. There could be nothing alike - this was custom. "This is my sister's hair ornament! Milanun!"

"We thought so, prince," the soldier sighed, a resolve burning in his heart. "There are black splotches on it; it has made us fear the worst. We have a man trying to get to the inside and investigate as we speak."

Black splotches? Blood? His sister's, Milanun's, blood!? Oh, Ismir stumbled back against the wall, leaning against it as he clutched the accessory until it dug into his flesh. His little sister, dear little sister - the man's mind filled with reminiscence of the young woman, memories of her childishness and stubborn, spoilt attitude that he had once thought annoying, now regretting not growing fond of.

"Apparently, a servant from the palace sold it in. From the state of it, I could only imagine what our princess is going through."

"She...She must be dead already. A woman could not survive such things. My sister, how she must have suffered," he moaned, touching his brow as his heart squeezed painfully. What was he going to tell mother? "Unforgivable. Unforgivable! The Pharaoh will pay for this!"

The Haitian prince stood up with bared teeth, enmity overflowing as he glared out the window, a silhouette of the grand palace of Egyptians singing itself into his mind as he snarled like the animals they had developed from. The Pharaoh, Memphis, took his sister...

"We will take Egypt's precious 'Daughter of the Nile' as retribution!" he declared, riling men to their feet.

Haitian cheers were drowned out by the swarms of people in the markets.

Harker sat up in the palace gardens, feeling put off all of a sudden, and decided to get out of the sun for a while.

()()()

"Carol! Carol, come here!"

The Western man groaned and rolled onto his stomach, a bowl of curry of sorts well on its way to being devoured as a sickle moon hung, nary a slit in the sky. The night was dark without its nocturnal sun but the fires of Egypt speckled the land like low sitting stars, giving the lost man something to gaze out on as he sat in his isolation.

"Carol!"

He sighed and dipped his tongue into his cup, swirling warm wine lazily.

Then he stopped and pushed himself to his knees, a sudden tremor playing the strings of his heart as he gazed out at the glittering Nile, which winked little lights at him in a conniving manner. Something stirred in his guts, writhing like an unwell baby as his skin prickled.

In an instant, he was on his feet and across the grand feast hall, cutting through the mass of nobles without care or regard, the king and crown jewel of the flock his destination and target.

"Where is Carol?" Harker asked roughly, staring down at the king.

Memphis gazed up at the man, his heart leaping at the voice and attention pressed upon his cheeks. But the tone was abrasive, and he found himself turning away with a huff, knuckles pressing his jaw as he swirled warm wine absently.

"Why do I need to tell you anything? Find her yourself; sniff her out like a dog."

Harker sneered as he felt his temper rise, the inexplicable turbulence rattling in his stomach like something living making him impatient and unwilling to deal with the childishness of the Pharaoh. Pale hands shot out and grabbed the king by his golden collar, soldiers up in arms as the Australian yanked him forwards, their noses near touching as he glared with unconcealed demands down at the king.

"Where is Carol?" he reiterated, each word emphasized with its own pause as grit of teeth. "Tell me, now!"

The closeness suffocated Memphis, his eyes wide as boiling sky stared down at him, golden strands brushing his brow of pitch. Perfumes of flora and sandalwood washed over him in sense tingling waves, the heat that followed Harker's being pulsing through to him in magmic fans, leaving his face flushed as breath heavy as the king tried to cool himself. He lurched forwards, hand coming up to trap a head of gold from fleeing.

It was unbearably hot. Like kissing the sun itself that beat down on his kingdom. But it was also soft, like he was holding lily petals between his lips.

The fist that struck his across the face, however, was none of those things; and it all ended too fast for Memphis to truly lavish in the moment.

In a moment, soldiers hand grabbed Harker by his biceps, their faces expression how they were unsure of how to restrain him, knowing that any damages that were to come to the Pharaoh's possessions would be magnified onto their own beings. Their efforts were enough, however, as the Australian found himself unable to move as the king stood and closed the distance again, pressing mouths over mouths in less than elegant ways and onto outraged participants.

 _"You son of a-_ Focus you _fucker!_ Carol! Where is she!?" Harker shouted, yanking back and baring his teeth, before ringed hands came up and cupped his face, yanking him back in for fevered kisses.

Memphis relished in the taste of sweet fruit and wine that clung to the man's tongue, spices of orient curry tanging the kiss as he let himself close his eyes and submerge in the feeling. He let a hand slip from pale cheeks and finger at Harker's neck, tracing the racing pulse, knowing that it was beating in rage, but loving its speed nonetheless, able to delude himself as he pleased.

"For _fuck's sake!_ Something's wrong - _mmph!"_

The pale man quivered in rage under his hands, teeth clicking his tongue, but never clamping down to slice through the invasive touch. It made the king smile as he tilted his jaw to fit them closer, sighing through his nose as he pressed his wandering palm to the expanse of the Westerner's chest and shoulder. Then he let his hand brush aside the white cape that clad the man, revealing to his frozen court the symbol of the sun which was etched beneath the skin of the man in his grasp.

They wouldn't question his desires now. It was only normal for the Pharaoh, son of Ra, to have a man marked by the God by his side. A man to match a woman, the sun to match the sea, a set to balance the world and Egypt as they knew it. And him, Memphis, the Pharaoh and descendant of a God, the recipient of such deserving gifts and the scale of which the world must be balanced. Them, his Pale Pair, on either side of him.

 _"I'm going to-!"_

"Your Highness!" Unasu burst in, distilling the once frozen space. "Your Highness, Carol has been kidnapped!"

"What?!" Memphis snapped, spinning around with fiery anger. "Send the soldiers! Pursue them and bring Carol back!"

"I told you! Why didn't you listen to me, God damn it!" Harker bellowed, ripping himself free of stunned guards. "How far could that have gone because of you by now?!"

The Pharaoh glared at the man but could only muster up so much anger against him as his lips still gleamed wet and flushed red from his attention. Instead, he turned back and demanded the soldiers to move faster, a buzzing of panic finally surfacing through the euphoria.

Carol had been _kidnapped_.

"Find out who did it and drag them back here!" Harker and Memphis boomed at once, voices crashing through the palace and roaring life into the desert.


	12. Chapter 12: Haiti, Her Home

**Chapter 12: Haiti, Her Home**

Harker was frantic, moving about the room of the Pale Pair in search of a clue or a hint as to just what Carol had been doing before she had been kidnapped. He threw aside dresses and jewels, the servants who had been orders to tend to him, with Unasu also disappeared, flinching as a golden bangle crashed into the far wall with a frightening strength.

He was breathing deep in his attempts to loosen the tension in his diaphragm, feeling the possibility of a rather unfortunate fit threatening to take hold of him should he allow himself to be dragged under. There was no time for that, however, and the Westerner ploughed on, upturning the pillows and blankets that he had left for Carol to sleep in isolation in the night before.

" _What the hell were you thinking?"_ he hissed, striding over to the window as if he could scold the girl wherever she was.

Harker scowled before pausing and shouting out, spotting the General Minue returning from the desert search with some of his men. He ran down to meet them, disregarding the calls of his entourage and, it seemed, he was the first to meet the soldiers upon their return.

"Have you found anything?" he asked quickly, looking to the military leader.

"Well, not qui-"Minus began, only to get cut off by the Westerner.

"I'm not the Pharaoh, General, you don't need to try and _sugar coat..._ Sweeten it. Just say if you've found literally anything," Harker insisted, recognising the tone.

General Minus seemed to relax a bit, though stumped by the 'sugar coat' term that was tossed up in the white man's strange language. He nodded and reached for a man to step forward, two pieces of cloth in hand.

"We've found two pieces that we believe are related. The first we are sure is Carol's cape," Harker took it gently and sifted through it, before retracting harshly as the tacky texture of drying blood stuck to his fingers. He began to spit English profanity, and though the Egyptians couldn't understand the tongue, the emotion was clear for them to comprehend. "We've also found this alongside it."

The white man took the smaller cloth and frowned, vaguely recognising the embroidery that followed the fabric, but not truly being able to place any such memory.

"We believe it to be Haitian," Minue supplied, seeing the unsure recognition.

"Haitian!?" Harker coughed.

"Yes, it may be in retaliation to the situation with the princess that was rumoured to have gone missing," he nodded, misunderstanding the surprise as the majority realisation. "We'll have to tell the Pharaoh immediately."

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Oh, things were going straight to fucking hell in a handbasket!

Harker nodded and handed over the pieces again, before pausing and stopping the soldiers from continuing up to the king.

"That prisoner you were interrogating before," he started, finally placing where he had seen the pattern; it had been on the prisoner's tunic from when Carol had forged a rather janky sword. "He is Haitian, yes?"

Minue nodded with interest, perhaps already adding the man to his plans now that the memory had been refreshed.

"Indeed! I will be sure to question him again, he may have known of the plan!"

"...Maybe," Harker uttered carefully, before parting with the Ancient. "Thank you for the help, General!"

"Of course!"

Haitians. Haitians were the one behind this and it was all in retaliation. God, Harker should have known this would happen! But really, how should he have known? Warfare and force as a response to anything had been put well onto the back burner for years in the 21st century. He had gotten too cozy with this whole situation; this was the wake-up call he deserved for being a bludger.

" _I need to talk to the Haitian,"_ he muttered quietly, feeling the hot stone sting his bare feet. Then the shouts of his keepers called out, the people finally having caught up from his dead dash. " _But first, I need to get rid of these people. How am I going to do that…?"_

The servants that had been allocated to Harker were plentiful, no less than nine men and boys following the Westerner's every motion to satisfy the Pharaoh's paranoia. It was designed in a way that, no matter what Harker thought up, there would be at least two people around him at any point in time, even if it was just the smallest boy - who, Harker had found, was rather swift on his feet.

" _Oh, screw it,"_ he sighed, crossing his arms. " _Time to ask permission again,"_ the man trotted back up the stairs and grimaced as he approached the teenaged king, seemingly not yet having received the news. Perhaps Minus was briefing someone else first?

"Pharaoh," he called, dropping down on his belly beside the Ancient, his daybed upon a risen platform and received a long look from the man. Harker thinned his lips internally but didn't pull away from the look of warped, entitled affection that was cast onto him, keeping his plan in mind. "I want to sleep but your minions keep following me around. Call them off already," he whined, fighting not to withdraw as a tanned hand rose and cupped his cheek, feeling his hot skin.

"Sorry, Harker, but they're there to keep you safe," Memphis hummed, obviously pleased. The rest of the room seemed to calm down, and Harker frowned at that. The Pharaoh must have been throwing tantrums again - though, he supposed he couldn't blame him this time. "I will not remove them."

"But I'm fine," he groaned, dropping his head away from the hand and onto his own arms, trying to make the actions as open and 'see-through' as possible. "No one's going to kidnap me!"

Not a lie.

"No, Harker, I won't call them away," Memphis denied again, a firmness coming to his voice that showed he wasn't going to be gentle for very much longer, and that Harker's gateway was shrinking. "Why are you so desperate to sleep?" the king growled suddenly, "Carol's been kidnapped, for the gods' sake!"

"I'm tired, Pharaoh, do you think I've slept since yesterday?" Harker shot back, "What use will I be if I'm dead on my feet. I've learnt my lesson for that once-" well, not really, "and I intend on getting a good sleep so I can throttle the people who took her with fucking _dental floss."_

The Pharaoh blinked at the weird language that had been tossed in but understood the threat to a life existed somewhere in the uttered syllables.

Harker licked his lips in thought, trying to think of a plan. Then he paused, Memphis had followed that minute action intently. The Australian fought off a groan of despair as he realised just what he was going to crucify for this meeting. This Haitian man better be worth it!

"How about a deal?" he offered, shuffling closer to the king, resting his chin on his palm with a lazy look. "I'll give you a kiss, and in exchange, I get to sleep uninterrupted. Now that's a key word here, 'uninterrupted'."

Memphis ground to a halt, eyes widening and gaining a darkened shine that Harker had grown used to seeing in reference to the 'Pale Pair'. It made Harker bit his tongue, a well up of guilt coming when he saw just how excited the Pharaoh was at the proposal and how he was essentially playing with the man's heart.

It was fine, he was trying to achieve a greater goal here. He could ask for forgiveness later.

"Deal, Pharaoh?" Harker hummed, tilting his head a bit and smiling in a way he was only slightly ashamed to say he had practised in the mirror during many of the nights of his high school career.

"Very well," Memphis coughed, catching himself becoming too ensnared by the Australian. "I agree to your terms. You may rest uninterrupted by your attendants."

Harker smiled wider and got onto his hands, crawling to loom over the king in a manner that reminded the people around them of a falcon ready to burst from a branch, its prey selected and in sight. They watched in fearful fascination as the being of druzy loomed over their Pharaoh before he lowered himself down and planted a soft and affectionate kiss onto the Ancient.

Memphis hummed into the touch and enjoyed the contact with closed eyes, dark hand wrapping around the white bicep of the man above and feeling imperfections of skin under his palm.

"There," Harker huffed, lifting himself away a short distance. "Now, I'm going to sleep, 'kay?"

"Why not sleep here?" the king attempted, gesturing to the daybed.

"Nah, too loud," he denied gently, before getting to his feet and waving as he gave the teen a glance from over his shoulder. "I'll see you whenever, then, Pharaoh."

"Sleep well, Harker," Memphis called, voice still holding an airy quality to it.

The alabaster person walked through the people that parted for him, cape dragging on the wind and baring the symbol of the sun to them. The mark of the sun, the mark of Ra. This man, whose hair was as gold as Ra's rays, eyes as azure as the midday sky, skin as pale as freshly beaten sand.

Memphis sighed and relaxed into his daybed, reaching for a cup of warm wine and swallowing it lazily, much more relaxed. Harker had put his mind at ease in a way only those celestial beings could achieve, and he soon found himself dozing lightly, the stress having drained him.

"Your Harker is right, your majesty," a lord murmured bravely from the crowd that had fallen silent. "Rest is the best thing for you right now. The better rested you are, the more lethal you will be to the enemies of you and your Carol."

The Pharaoh regarded him for a moment, before huffing and rolling onto his side. He'd remain here so he could spring into action should news arrive, but he'd follow the example set by the Western man and allow his body recess.

He just hoped Carol had such a luxury, wherever she was.

()()()

" _Fond memories of this place,"_ Harker scoffed sarcastically, treading through the humid dungeons with a cloak hung over his head. " _Now, if I were a Haitian-hating Egyptian Ancient dude, where would I put said hated Haitian?"_

He tread lightly through the stone halls before pausing as a groan rippled along the air, pained gasps and wheezes bringing him to a cell that looked no different to the others. He frowned and narrowed his eyes in the gloom before hissing in sympathy as the raw back of a man was exposed to him, the wounded being wrapped in on himself in a fetal position as he moaned in pain.

"Hey," the Australian man whispered, making the ailed flinch instinctively, before slowly looking over his shoulder and mustering up the courage to glare at the stranger clad in Egyptian riches. "Hey, you're Haitian, yes?"

"...What's it to you?" he grunted out from between gritted teeth.

"Do you know what's going on in terms of Carol?" Harker asked, before pausing at the blank look. "The daughter of the Nile."

"Pah, I don't need to tell you anything."

Harker thinned his lips to regain patience, before sighing out from his nose and leaning forward to the gate, lowering his voice further.

"Would you tell me if I gave you something in exchange?" Great, more deals. "Something I think you'll really want."

"You could never give me what I want, Egyptian dog."

"What about your princess? Milanun?"

In an instant, Harker launched himself back as a hand lashed out from between the bars, the man hissing at him in rage and enmity.

"You have her!?" he boomed, voice crawling up the halls of the dungeon, getting a curse from the Australian.

"Shut up, man!" Harker hissed quietly, "You think I'm _meant_ to be down here?"

There was a moment of stillness, both men listening to see if the guards would come trudging down the path, disgruntled and ready to give pain. They waited a moment more, still nothing.

"Look, I don't have much time and from what I'm hearing up top, neither do you. So do we have a deal?" the Westerner pressed, urgency in his voice.

The Haitian soldier measured him for a moment before nodding and pulling away from the fence, "you show me my princess and I will tell you where your daughter of the Nile is and what has been planned for her."

"Brilliant," he nodded, before looking at the security of this door.

It was different to the latch of Seichi's door that had been deeper in the dungeons, and it was likely due to this man's cell being on of high traffic and needing to be opened readily. Harker unlatched a device on the wall and gave huffed breaths as he worked a straining pulley system which made the gate groan before lifting out of divets in the stone.

"How're your injuries, are you able to move well enough?" Harker asked, putting everything back as the man brushed himself down.

"I can handle it."

The Australian nodded before guiding the man up the stairs and past the dozing guards, using back halls and narrow passages to eventually reach a low window. They hopped from readily onto the back gardens of the palace which Harker recognised as the vantage point Carol and he had once used to spy upon the court on their first days in this strange time.

"Keep down," he urged and tugged the hood of his cloak over his golden hair before shuffling through the undergrowth of plants, hearing his companion follow. "What's your name?"

"Lifet," was the short response.

"I'm Harker," came his own reply.

"Where is the princess? Is she alive?"

"She's in a safe house in the slave village," Harker supplied quietly, jumping across a small divot in the ground. "And she is very much alive, I assure you."

"That's wonderful," Lifet sighed, sounding near to tears in his relief.

"We'll need to walk for a little while longer from here, but the village isn't too far."

They made their way to the village of clay and slaves with caution and speed, not tempting the morning sun's radiance upon their bodies for too long, but also wary of Egyptian soldiers which may have been scouting the sands.

"Is that it?" the Haitian asked, gesturing to the buildings which peaked over the horizon of dunes.

"That's it alright, come on!"

They made the last stretch promptly and ducked into the shade of the houses with gratitude, the people of Gosen turning their eyes away courteously as the strangers walked past. Harker found the path to Sephora's realm easily and knocked on the door in a pattern that was an ode to 'Waltzing Matilda' - not that anyone really knew that.

"Miss Sephora, this is a Haitian soldier, Lifet," Harker explained as he closed the door behind them. "Is Milanun here?"

"Yes, of course, she is," Sephora huffed, before turning her attention upon the injured soldier. "Oh, look at you! Come, sit down. Harker where did you put all the salves?"

"Uh, under the cabinets!" he called back, turning around to a small section divided off by a tattered curtain and plucked it aside to see the Haitian princess curled up and snoozing in the dark. "Lazy princess," he snorted, before kneeling down and poking her cheek.

Milunun jolted awake at the touch, making Harker frown but he quickly dismissed it to smile at the girl when she spun to see him crouched beside her.

Her eyes widened before the princess grinned and wrapped her arms around the man, tossing her weight upon him as she cooed in a giddy greeting. She hummed as Harker hugged her back and ran his hand along her spine, petting away dust and debris as he laughed.

"Hello to you too, princess. Now, how's your leg?" he asked, running his fingers through her hair and straightening what had been knocked askew by sleep.

"Much better," the Haitian princess answered, following the man into the main room and sitting down on a bench, allowing him to take her leg in grasp and examine the divot scar. "And what about you, dear prince? Has that Pharaoh been-"

"My princess!" Lifet gasped, stumbling towards them despite how Sephora tutted at him. "My princess, thank the gods you're alive and well!"

Milanun sat straight in a moment, her atmosphere shifting near on instinct as she looked from Harker to the soldier who shuddered into a kneeling bow.

"You are a Haitian soldier!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah," Harker smiled, standing and helping the girl to her feet as well. "It's time for you to go home, Milanun."

"The prince Izumin has stopped at nothing to learn of you since you disappeared; he led an entire entourage into the heart of Egyptian territory in search of you!"

The royal's eyes widened at the words, and though she felt the bloom of excitement in her stomach, the reality of an ending was making her cold. She'd need to leave now; she hadn't thought of a way to take her Harker with her!

"What about you?" she asked carefully, trying to keep a hold of his hands as he moved away to begin collecting for her travel.

"Hm, me?" Harker repeated, looking over his shoulder. "Well, it seems I'm going with you."

With her? Milanun felt her heart bloom with warmth and become as light as air itself as she watched the man gather remedies and dry meats into a sack. Her fingertips tingled with the buzzing of a heartbeat as she felt her lips pull.

"You're coming?" she uttered again, wanting to hear him promise her company once more.

"Well yes," he nodded, before looking to the soldier who was being wrapped in bandages to protect his wounds from the desert sand. "I've upheld my end of the deal, Lifet, now you."

"Of course," Lifet grunted, wincing as Sephora tugged the bindings tight. "We thought the princess was dead due to finding her headpiece in the marketplace along with traces of blood -"

"And you decided to give Egypt a bit of payback?" Harker snipped without so much as looking away from his task, remembering the cape with a splattering of blood that had been left for the General Minue to find as a payment in kind.

"...I'm sure the prince will return the daughter of the Nile to you once princess Milanun is safe in Haiti," the soldier coughed.

Milanun sat back down on the edge of the bench, her joy extinguished as she realised that Harker was not coming out of affection for her, but in order to retrieve Carol.

Carol. Always Carol.

Her hands became fists in her lap as she grit her teeth from behind her thinned lips, eyes narrowed at the hard-packed earth as an ugly feeling bubbled in her stomach. Jealousy and distress warped itself around her insides, urging the unsightly wrath of a woman to seep out.

"Milanun?" Harker hummed, coming over to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

The Haitian royal was startled out of her darkness at the touch and she looked up to see azure gazing down at her with concern. Concern for her, not Carol. Not right now.

She could work with this.

"Yes, prince," she sighed leaning her cheek against his arm. "Just a bit nervous."

She could work with this, yes. Carol would be the reason Harker would come, but by the Gods, Milanun will be the reason he will stay.

"Mm, me too," the Australian man laughed, scratching her scalp a bit in friendly affection. "Do you...want another hug? Will it help?"

"Princess!" Lifet gaped, appalled by the brazen request from the man. "Pay this man no mind, I will-"

Milanun smiled and leant forward as he wrapped his arms around her, her skin burning where he touched. She murmured a gentle note and nosed deeper into his shoulder to find more of smokey eucalyptus and sea salt that had stained the man's skin from whatever land he had been spirited from, pressing her lips against his flesh as he scratched a light pattern along her spine.

Neither of the two bothered with the spluttering soldier who flailed helplessly in the corner of the room, Sephora amused and heartened by the scene.

"Come on, we need to get ready," Harker murmured after a few moments, letting her go and getting back to full height.

Milanun nodded before getting to her feet and gratefully accepting an old cloak from Sephora, the tattered and musty material her hair and Haitian aristocratic features. She bent and bound her leg once more to protect it from the heat and sand, nodding to the soldier who looked equally livid and terrified as he laid his eyes on the scar.

"My princess, when-"

"It's fine, Lifet," she soothed, taking a skin of water from Harker as he walked past. "It's practically all healed now, right, Harker?"

"Hm? Yeah, it's just about done I'd say. But don't go kicking anything too soon, the skin may rip."

Lifet looked ready to blow a top and storm the palace himself hopped up on his own rage, but was stopped from his tirade as a bag was shoved into his arms by the Australian.

"We're going to need to use a boat to get to Haiti, yeah? " he asked, helping Sephora pack up the medical salves of aloe vera and other such remedies. "Do you know of a way to get to one? I don't have any of your or Egyptian currency, but if needed I can pawn off all this glittery shit the Pharaoh slapped me with."

The last of his words were accented with alabaster fingers tugging at the golden collar which hung from his neck, beads and bejewelled fabrics snapping light and reflecting patterns onto his pale complexion.

"I don't think that will be necessary," Lifet huffed, still disgruntled by the man's brazen contact with a royal of Haiti. "There are plenty of loyal Haitians who would give us passage under the banner of the royal family."

Milanun backed his words with a nod, fixing a clasp of her earring absently. She felt tense, the fear of all the things that could go wrong hovering in the back of her mind - but she refused to bow to it. Not now anyway, when she was home and safe, then she'd allow herself to buckle amongst familiar company.

"Great," Harker hummed, grabbing up his sack and hanging it over his shoulder. "Then we better get going. The Pharaoh thinks I'm still in the palace."

Then he turned to the Egyptian mother who had watched on, her hands tightly clasped as she measured her breath. Harker smiled and crossed the distance, wrapping his arms around her and murmuring gentle thank you's to the woman.

"It's fine, Harker. I wish I could do more," Sephora sighed, leaning into the hug with a wrung laugh. "You all be safe, okay? Look after each other."

"We will," Milanun nodded, coming to stand beside the man and getting an arm wrapped around her shoulder in companionship.

"Ready to go home?" he asked her again as they stood at the door, the afternoon painting the sky a burnt orange.

"Yes," she breathed, grabbing hold of his pale hand and followed the soldier to Haiti.


End file.
